Chapter 64 (Patreon)

Sonya dug the fingers of her free hand into the ceiling, holding herself in place as she examined the boss. The core creature of the dungeon lounged in its corpulent glory, its sizeable gut so unwieldy that she wondered if it was even capable of standing on its own. She dismissed that notion, underestimating a dungeon boss was a good way to end up dead. She understood the strategy of most heroes from the past timeline; test the waters, experiment, feel the enemy out for weaknesses, assess its strengths, and then go in for the kill while keeping excessive firepower to a minimum.

Sonya had no such compunctions.

She’d forgotten, truth be told, about the ways of life she’d learned back during the war as the Apocalypse gripped the world. She’d let let the softness and joy of being back in the past ease her mindset. Well, sort of. She was cognizant of what was happening to her even if there wasn’t much she could do about it in the immediate. There were no therapists she could talk to, no treatments, no pathways to take that wouldn’t cause undue problems for her greater plans. She would just have to deal with it on her own, her and the fragmentary spark of id that was Ishtar.

She’d put too much stock into the identity, committed heinous crimes in that name and had begun to push the responsibility of her actions on it. She wasn’t stupid, she wasn’t blind, she understood, better than anyone. If she was going to slow it down, the only thing she could do was take some of that viciousness back onto her shoulders. I can’t let you shoulder it all, or you’ll become worse than him, won’t you?

She didn’t expect a response, she didn’t want one, that would mean she was further gone than she’d estimated. Sonya pulled herself out of her thoughts and assessed the creature’s body, the heads up display of her cybernetics enhanced by the helmet. There were various high stress points she could emphasize, the knees in particular. Large goblins tended to have a decent regeneration, but their blood was thin and their hearts powerful. Attacking a major artery was also a good strategy.

She planned her route, planting her feet and shoving her fingers deeper into the stone to maintain her grip. The beast below her belched and scratched its belly, unaware, oblivious.

Locate the problem and exterminate it with extreme prejudice, stop holding back.

She grit her teeth, This is going to hurt.

Her inner energy blazed to life, her muscles shifted, her bones became denser, the world seemed to slow down around her. Red light flashed in her vision and the glow of the eyes on her helmet intensified in the dark. She gripped her weapon. Maximum Uptime, she hissed internally and with a tremendous bang, kicked off the ceiling like a rocket. The great beast barely had an instant to shift its massive frame and look up when a knife dug into its throat. She pulled, her muscles blazing as she carved a path around its head and down, across shoulder muscles. She hopped down to the ground and with a grunt of effort drove herself forward, her knife outstretched. It impacted the bony knee of the creature’s emaciated legs and pierced clean through.

She barely registered the creature’s howls of pain. She whipped the blade out and threw herself forward in time for it to swing a club that had materialized in its hand. The force of the swing was solid, but half hearted with the wounds to its shoulder muscles. She kicked off the ground and threw herself to the side, sliding to a stop and disabling uptime. A brief wave of weakness washed over her and she let out a gasp, her knees buckling. Fifteen seconds, shit. She snarled, breathing hard as her body set to work catching up with the extreme effort. At least I’m not passing out.

Before her, the gargantuan goblin let out a roar of fury, blood pouring from its neck and shoulders like a waterfall, making a gory cloak around the enormous thing. It tried to stand and chase after her but its leg only buckled and snapped, collapsing beneath its weight. It fell forward, slamming its head against the floor beneath it. It struggled for a moment, trying to get a grip on the ground with one of its hands. She walked over to it and looked down before crouching and pressing the tip of the blade against its skull, right between the eyes. She started to wind up Uptime again to get the strength to puncture the creature’s toughened bone.

That was when its eyes flashed and it looked up at her, a burning glow flashing behind those bestial eyes. Her senses screamed at her as veins of orange light began to spread across its flesh. Her eyes widened, Suicide skill?! She gasped, she didn’t have enough time to pierce the damn thing’s head! In the heartbeat it took for her to recognize the danger and assess the risks, she finished her wind up and kicked off the ground again, activating hard light and throwing up a barrier between herself and the beast.

BOOM!

Despite her defenses, the explosion sent her hurtling across the room. She hit the wall and blacked out for a moment, sliding down to the ground. It only took a few seconds for her vision to clear and for her brain to register the terrible shape her body was in now. She clicked her tongue, looking down at the burns across the gear that Amos had made for her, her broken arm and according to her HUD, three broken ribs among some minor head trauma. The helmet saved her life. She groaned and forced herself up into a sitting position, holding her arm. She tried to pull Hands of the Healer out of her warehouse but felt resistance.

Too much uptime, she grumbled before glaring at the scorched crater that remained after the boss blew itself up. She clicked her tongue. Tch, no core.

She took a quick breather, going through the fight in her mind. I wasn’t ruthless enough. I should have been faster. She would have… She trailed off and scoffed, I can’t believe I’m comparing myself to her when I’m chickening out from a goddamn press conference. Chickening out from confronting her. I handled congress, I can handle my… She pursed her lips and shook her head. The pulsing in her skull making her head swim a little. She cursed and forced herself to her feet, staggering a little.

Time to go, dungeon will collapse soon, She thought and ambled her way towards the end of the room, past the scorched crater and into the final room. Unlike the rest of the cave-like dungeon, this place was the same as the one that Firestorm’s team had seen, the same as any other dungeon. A wide casket-like chest sat in the center of a room made entirely out of white marble. The sheer walls were adorned with incomprehensible runes and mosaics depicting goblins in various acts of barbarism. At the other end of the room was a portal leading out of the dungeon.

She stopped in front of the chest and glanced at her broken arm. Huffing, she used her foot to push it open, revealing the contents. She’d kept the reward for Firestorm’s team a secret, though Firestorm himself was getting a great deal of use out of it already. She planned on announcing it during the press conference. This reward, she’d keep for herself as a trophy if anything. She reached down and plucked what looked like some kind of grizzly idol off the long pillow inside. It looked like it was made of whittled bone, skins, and were those teeth? Gross. She turned it over in her hand and tilted her head. No idea what this does, I’ll have Amos play with it. 

There wasn’t anything left in the chest, more than one reward was considered an extreme rarity. Most guilds in the past got more value out of the crystals in the walls of the dungeon than the single reward that-

You’ve chosen your path?

Sonya froze. That voice, and then the scent! She whipped her head around. Plum blossoms. Her lips pressed into a thin line.

You walk a tightrope, dear, you could-

Sonya scowled beneath her helmet, “Don’t you dare use her voice!” She snarled, “Who are you? Where are you?”

There was a pause, then the voice changed. It wasn’t the heart achingly resolute voice of Chunhua anymore. Instead, the woman sounded a bit more childish, a faint amount of amusement in her voice. My, what a reaction! My little gift has given you a spine.

Sonya looked up and around again, still no source, “Pandora?” She called.

Was it that obvious? The voice laughed.

Sonya’s lip twitched, “A bit. So what do you want?”

Nothing at all, I am enjoying the show. Was my gift a good one?

“I’m not complaining, though it could explain itself a bit more,” Sonya said with a huff, “I crippled myself, though I’ll admit I got a bit greedy. So yeah, thanks for that.”

You seem to already have an idea of what to do. Patience.

Sonya frowned, “So you’re real, not a hallucination, and you know?”

Quite astute, the being teased her.

“What did you mean by enjoying the show?” Sonya asked, but as she did the ground beneath her began to shake. She felt the air shift and she looked back to see rocks falling from the ceiling of the boss room.

A shame, we’re out of time. Perhaps next time.

Sonya whipped around, “What? No! You’re going to tell me what part you play in all this! Why is all of this happening? Who is-”

The ground shook again and Sonya nearly fell over herself. She snarled and staggered to get her balance back, marching herself towards the portal. 

Next time, love.

“Don’t call me that!” Sonya shrieked as the ground shook again, “Fine! Next time! I’ll get some fucking answers out of you!” She barked as she forced herself through the portal, her head last. “I swear it!”

With that, Sonya left the dungeon. The structure continuing to destabilize behind her, the form and shape of the magical place collapsing in on itself. A faint mote of light floated in the air near the portal and bloomed into shape. A playful smile dancing on the face of a woman made nearly entirely out of light, a pair of golden eyes burning with inner fire. I’m looking forward to it, and to seeing how your tale plays out, little villain.

–

Sonya stumbled forward onto the ground and let out another groan. She heard the sounds of night-time New York around her and knew that she’d made it back in one piece. She rolled onto her back, her HUD still warning her that she had several rather serious injuries. “Bitch…” She growled and coughed, feeling a bit of copper on her tongue. She took a breath, it hurt like hell. She tried again to pull Hands of the Healer out and she managed to draw it out enough to partially mend her ribs before it returned to storage again. Cursing, she got back to her feet and glanced around.

“Oh yeah,” She muttered, looking around the abandoned subway tunnel. She concentrated on trying to send Amos a message but felt her head buzz in response.

<Minor cranial damage detected, some functions unavailable. Healing abilities will repair organic matter, technical materials will restore on their own after organic matter has completed restoration.>

Meaning she couldn’t use some of her Cyber-punk powers until her body was back in top shape. She sighed, snatched up her duffle bag that she’d left next to the portal, and started walking, marching step after step towards the stairs leading up into the hidden access point to this part of the subway. A few minutes of grumbling and pained marching later and she got to the top, pushing through the door and stepping out onto one of the less populated streets in the city. She stopped to catch her breath. Fuck I’m tired. She leaned against the doorframe and looked out over the desolate street.

At least I cleared the dungeon, I feel better, She sighed, I needed that, I think. I feel more stable.

She tried not to think too hard about her encounter with Pandora at the end, she’d gotten next to nothing out of the voice besides a bit of teasing that she really didn’t appreciate. What’s her goal in all this? Enjoying the show my ass.

That was when something caught her eye. A black car rounded the corner and began driving by. She blinked at it in confusion, eyeing the red light that was set on top of it. A… taxi? Why is the light red? She thought, taking a step forward and squinting at it as it continued on its path. It looked like it was patrolling for passengers. She couldn’t make out the driver’s face from where she was and with how dark it was. It didn’t help that the street lights around here were all but useless. The car continued moving, passing her and proceeding down the street.

“Shit, wait!” She called out. She reached into her bag and scrambled for a flashlight. She hadn’t thought she’d needed it but she’d brought it just in case. She held it up and flashed it a few times. The car kept moving for a moment and she’d thought it ignored her before, abruptly, it stopped and began driving in reverse. She stood there, awkwardly, in her full Ishtar regalia as the car came to a stop right in front of her. She glanced again at the driver but couldn’t make out a damn thing. This is suspicious as hell, but there aren’t a lot of people who can hurt me and my gear is still mostly in one piece. She reached for the doorknob only for the driver door to open.

She stepped back, That’s… not normal.

The driver stepped out and turned to face her, his hat pulled so low she couldn’t make out his face beyond his deathly pale skin. The driver silently tipped his hat and walked around the car. She took another step back and reached for her knife only for him to completely ignore her, reaching for the handle of the door and opening it for her. He stepped away and offered her a polite bow.

“Uh… thank you?” She murmured, unsettled. Maybe I shouldn’t-

“You are a villain?” The man said, his voice sounding like a croak of pain. It also sounded oddly distant despite coming from right in front of her.

She frowned and tilted her head, “Who’s asking?”