Cionus jumped out of the way of the shrapnel, and snorted in annoyance. Their teamwork would make fighting them successfully hard. Cionus shrugged. Defeating them wasn't important. As long as they were distracted, Cionus didn't care. Instead, she fired short, quick, and rather weak blasts at the two, jumping to and fro. Although nowhere near strong enough to do serious damage, it'd be more than enough to keep their attention, for the time being.

The alchemist moved faster than either of the Broken Pendulum had expected. While Alistair proved agile enough to duck and weave around the oncoming energy blasts, Vail was not quite so eager to abandon her stance. Bolts of energy wove around them, some making impact and others careening off to the side, either deftly dodged or simply aimed poorly. Alistair felt the sleeves of his suit singed as he danced out of the way but was otherwise unharmed. Vail, stubborn as she always had been, refused to move from her position. She was swift and sturdy enough to block them with her gauntlets, her arms positioned in an orthodox boxing stance. Her gauntlets took several direct impacts but they were strong enough to resist the pummeling.
 
Once Cionus had ended his assault, Vail took a more relaxed stance as if to tease him. She glanced over her shoulder and looked to Alistair. “I’ve done all the work so far,” she chimed, a wide smile across her face. “Are you just going to hang around or are you actually going to help?”
 
As if he considered it an acceptable response, three silver knives fell from Alistair’s sleeve, sliding down his wrist and resting gently in his hands. He gripped them tightly by the bladed ends, then raised his arm and pulled it back, the knives now at eye level. He chuckled, twisted his feet and pulled his arm back further.
 
“Excuse me, darling,” he said, winking to Vail.
 
She fell to the floor. A trio of knives flew overhead, cutting a little too close for comfort. Alistair swung his other arm around, producing a second triplet of blades which followed the first. The projectiles shot through the air at an incredible speed, aimed precisely to skewer Cionus’ limbs, a (hopefully) non-lethal method of disabling him.

As if that were not enough, Vail sprang into action only moments later, clawing along the floor with her gauntlets like some kind of animal. She forced her legs outwards in a kick, propelling herself through the air in a bestial pounce with her hands outstretched, eager to coil tightly around Cionus’ neck.

Isaiah watched the various fights unfold with calm eyes. Fletcher would goof around and take the entire event with entirely too little seriousness. It was just the way these things happened. Even the car exploding had been no surprise, though in the flash he had lost track of his partner through Isabella's scope. Given that no killing was allowed in this game, Isaiah had loaded his rifle with rubber slugs. There were trace amounts of iron in them to allow them to be fired magnetically but they were most certainly not lethal. Time would tell whether or not he needed to use them.

Fletcher looked on at the ensuing chaos with glee. He had caused quite the mess. What's more, the explosion had probably caused Isaiah to lose sight of him. That meant no safety net. How exciting. He felt a slight shiver ripple from his chest to his groin at the thought of it. This would be fun. 

He could see the little girl deftly handling everything the Asylums were throwing at her. How terribly boring. Fletcher didn't care much for defeating her, honestly. But even at this distance, her sing-songy voice was making his skin crawl. He had to shut her up.

Taking off at a run, he quickly motioned with his right hand. A small magnetic field formed around the little Chrono's heart. A few flicks of his wrist and three spines, black as night and razor sharp, were slicing through the air, magnetically drawn by Fletcher's alchemy. He had gotten too close to the melee, however, and didn't see a stray shard of metal that had been launched by Seira's alchemy. 

Isaiah had found his partner again. Even in the confusion, it had only taken him a few moments but that was all Fletcher needed to get himself into trouble. A sliver of metal was flying towards the back of his skull. The brain stem would be severed, autonomic functions would cease and Fletcher would die shortly after. A relatively painless death, all things considered, but not one Isaiah was content to let happen. 

He squeezed the trigger gently and heard the familiar hum of the magnets doing their thing. The rubber slug left the barrel at one mile per hour under the speed of sound. Isaiah had calibrated it exactly that way. He often found that subsonic munitions served him best. The slug slowed slightly in flight but still his Fletcher halfway up his rib-cage on the right side with incredible force.

Fletcher was thrown to the ground in a heap and the shard of metal passed harmlessly overhead.

"Isaiah what the FUCK?"

"You're lucky I remembered my non-lethals today," Isaiah allowed himself a rare chuckle.

"Still....you fight?" The Chrono muttered, the disdain in her stoic tone revealing the futility of their endeavours. The strands of her hair instantly gripping the multitude of silver that came hurling her way, utilizing these she easily deflected the shards shot by yet another Asylum. Luckily before the Princess could deliver a resounding kick to the cranium of the kneeling Asylum her foe was stolen. 

Maeve had remained disorientated far longer than she liked. Perhaps it was because her head had been smacked against the car when she was teleported into it. Or perhaps it was just a negative reaction to being [i]disintegrated[/i]. Regardless, she managed to mutter the trigger word to turn off her collar. In a very dazed manner. For several minutes after that, the Celtic Asylum slowly regained awareness of what exactly what was going on around her. There was chaos, certainly. But she wasn’t sure if there had been death yet. When she was sure she could get out of the car without throwing up or falling over or any other form of nastiness happening to her, she slowly crawled out and onto her feet. 

Only to immediately be thrown straight into the car again by a shockwave. “Son of a bitch!” Maeve cursed as her back slammed painfully into the metal. She immediately rocketed to her feet, glaring about for the one who had done that. She found a kid vomiting all over the place, while AMRO’s princess continued to beat the crap out of anyone who tried to take her on. She gave on glance at the poor vomiting man, then towards the one who was unconscious beneath Reri’s foot. Maeve sighed. “I should just leave you to die for your insolent little remark.” She grumbled, before saying something in Welsh. She sank beneath the sand, and was gone. 

Beneath and to the side of Seira’s head, two arms appeared, wrapping themselves around her neck and stomach. Maeve’s lips appeared long enough for her to say, “Down.” And then they were gone. Seira was drawn into the sand with Maeve and away from the psychotic asylum while she was distracted. The two of them appeared next to Alistair, Maeve waving a cheerful greeting at him. “Hi! I was distracted at the time, so I never caught your name, but you seem the least likely to horribly kill or damage the girl. I would have dumped her near Kiara, but she’s not here. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see what the partner of the girl Vail’s fighting is going to do. Can’t leave anyone out of the fun, can we?” She winked at him, before saying something in Welsh again. Her skin shimmered an emerald green, and disappeared. Perhaps a showy form of teleportation, but she enjoyed it.

Alistair stood with a quizzical look across his own face as Maeve appeared beside him. He was glad Vail hadn't noticed, knowing it would fuel her already searing rage. He knelt down beside the girl that Maeve had dropped off for him to protect, looking her over. "Are you okay?" he asked.

The alchemist in the pink suit blinked, and began to call out "Wait!". He stopped himself when the young alchemist vanished, hanging his head and dragging himself back up onto his feet.

He looked to his companion, Vail, who had just missed her lunge at Cionus and tumbled to the floor in a heap.

"Try not to make too much of a mess," Alistair suggested, calling out to her. 

Off in the distance, Maeve reappeared in a similar flurry of emerald light.

“Well, hello there! I’m Maeve, and seeing as you’re alone, I’ve decided to keep you company! Let’s have some fun, shall we?” Maeve said from behind Solus, throwing a punch at the Asylum. A punch that happened to be electrically charged. 

Solus gritted his teeth, thrown forward a few feet, tumbling head over heels. "I really, really, need to get a better suit."

He stood up, cracking his neck. At this point he could care less about the Chrono. [i]I- I can't even begin to describe what a terrible decision she has made.[/i]

"You have no idea how much I want you to die." Solus was exaggerating, but he felt like there was no other way to get his point across. Oh, except for this.

Solus slowly walked back toward the girl who decided to spend some time with him. An easy 10 feet away, he walked a few steps before sound-bursting himself next to the girl. At the same time, he hammered her ears with a pulsating reverb, strong enough to make most ears bleed - literally. In his attempt to incapicate her, he pulls out his needles that made his team well-known. 

"You want to keep me company? Take your time." Solus snickered as he gleefully watched his needles approach the fair skin in front of him. It's almost beautiful. Solus remarked to himself.

Maeve gave Solus a wicked smile. This was fun! She was thinking she would have to play a game of hound and fox with this Asylum, but apparently he was willing to give her a fight. Good. She didn't want a fight like with the Prodigy, one party creaming the other party with both arms and legs tied behind their back. "You know, usually a guy offers me a drink, and then I decide whether or not to accept his offer and the casual sex that will probably happen soon after it. Depending on my answer, the 'really want you to die' bit arrives either right after or a couple of days after." She gave a theatrical sigh. "Most men are so clingy. It's why I prefer women." 

 As he walked towards her Maeve only grinned wider, muttering her activation word. Her gem suddenly sparked a bright green, about as bright as your average flashlight. As Solus hammered her ears, she covered her mouth with her hand. Couldn't have laughter escaping and stunning him before she was good and ready could she? However, her laughter disappeared when she saw needles approaching. Leaping backwards, she let out a level two scream. 
 
Regardless if it worked or not, she muttered her activation word again and the jewel returned to normal. "You like to play with needles? I have a pair..." There was the ripping sounds of flesh and cloth and two, Baraka esque, bone blades were sticking out of her forearms. Fresh blood was clearly on them. "I'll take the first move this time, sweety." She winked, before launching herself foward, slashing at Solus' chest.

Seira lay there with her eyes closed. Mentally she was evaluating the damage she had sustained from her fight with the Chrono. The worse would be a broken rib, but she can't confirm the diagnosis. The young lady cracked open her eyes and groaned. She was still pretty much out of it. The first course of action would be to lay low till she can assess the damage further. An injured medic was as good as a dead one. [i]Much less to Camron if he was still alive.[/i] The female Asylum sat up while clutching to her tender side. Deducing that everyone was otherwise preoccupied Seira staggered to her feet and retreated swiftly. Her mind fixed on returning to where the car had overturned earlier. It was quite the feat given the amount of pain she was experiencing. 

"C-Camron!"

The medical student was out of breath by the time she kneeled down beside her now incapacitated partner. Tried as she might she couldn't get any response out of younger Asylum. His eyes were staring vacantly. He didn't even realize she was there. [i]Great![/i] Refusing to simply give up Seira began examining the boy. The results puzzled her. Besides bleeding (possibly from the ruptured timpanic membrane on either side) there was no other visible sources of injury. [i]Brain damage?[/i] That would be tricky to diagnose given their current predicament. 

"Enough," The Chrono finally began once she had effortlessly evaded the incoming attacks. Her tone cold and unforgiving, her eyes like mechanichal gears gazing from one Asylum to the other, 

"My words are steal 
and my resolve is iron, 
thousands have come at me
bearing their fangs. 
and yet they forget
I breathe death and despair" 

As soon as these words were chanted the very air around them thickened, the dirt and sand asended to form massive pillars, one for each Asylum pair. The dramatic increase in alchemic pressure within the vicinity alone made it almost impossible to cast Alchemy. There was an influx of energy causing it to be unstable hence un-manipulatible. 

"Insects....that tread on the path of demons.....might just be treaded upon...by demons," With these cryptic words the Chrono disappeared, her silhoutte dispersing as if sand itself, leaving behind the pillars she had erected. Each Pillar standing around fifty feet tall aand around 25 feet wide. 

The curiosity of its purpose and function was soon enough answered as cracks began to outline these pillars, pieces crumbled of them much like an egg hatching and what came from within were massive Golems each targeting one Asylum team, all controlled by the prodigy's Alcehmy. 

This was the final interuption of the Gemellie, hence the final test for the Chrono had left. In order to reach the prize, the Asylum must first lay waste to the titans that stand in their way. 

Seira stared as the surface of the pillars cracked and the Golems emerged. Her mind froze for brief second. She had been too intent on checking on Camron to have paid any attention to what was happening. The Chrono is not cutting them any slack. Any moment now both of them will be crushed. She bit her lower lip. Her eyes flicked to the remains of the car. Metal will only crumble and potentially do more harm than good. She hated the idea of retreating again but there was no better plan. Teleporting is their only hope. She placed her hand on Camron's upper arm and concentrated. When she opened her eyes again they were still in the same spot. [i]What happened?[/i] 

"Damn..."

That megalomaniac! What a cheap trick! How are they going to... She took a deep breath. Raging wasn't going to help. Not right now. All the colossus had to do was take three more steps and they will be goners. Nope that was not the way she intended to go. Seira dragged herself up. 

There was no time for doubt. She will have to act [i]now[/i]! It's a good thing she is had other skills to count on besides Alchemy. She chuckled. She never believed in luck but today was different. They need to finish the game before someone actually dies. That was most likely to be Camron. The kid has completely lost it. 

The young woman breathed deeply and clutched her tender side. She crouched her knees slightly and when the Golem was but two steps away she ran straight towards it. Mercuri was so much lighter now since most of the metal was gone. She smirked. If she succeeds Camron lives awhile longer. If she fails she will be dead. 

Trusting the rest will not be easy. She hardly knew them. Not to mention one of them was a psychopath in the making. She continued barrelling forward. Will the others seize the opportunity to secure the objective? One of them must. Maybe it will be that man who spoke to them earlier. What was his name again? Somehow or other the one word that came to mind was sun. Seira pushed the thought aside. She took a deep breath once more. Her heart was pumping so hard that she could barely hear herself think.

Solus snickered at her attempt to damage him with her voice.

"Are you a fool? My partner uses her voice as a main weapon. You don't think I am not used to attacks like your own?" Solus gave her a coy smile, as if he was watching a hamster run around in a wheel. Before the scream could even leave her soft lips, Solus put a finger to her lips, and the soundwaves split from his finger in a V formation, as they diverted around Solus, and refracted everywhere behind Solus. Simply getting within 20 feet of them was dangerous, with the sound bouncing around them. However, the blades that soon emerged from her arms took Solus by surprise. [i]I thought this chick's deal was sound, not knives...[/i] Nevertheless, he needed to react, and quickly. This girl had full intent to rip him apart. Normally, Solus would back up and reassess the situation, but he quickly came to the realization that would give her the offensive, something she's very, very adept at being. Instead, he pulled his own blade out, and parried the blades. Before Maeve had any time to react, he shot electric voltage straight toward her. Not enough to cause permanent damage, but more than enough to render her unconsious. 

Solus jumped back, losing focus on whether his shot hit or missed. The Chrono had gotten his attention once more. Seeing the golems emerge, he sighed once more.

"The day just gets longer and longer..."

Maeve grinned as he blocked blades, enjoying herself immensley, even if the fight hadn't been going on for that long. That smile immediately disappeared when she saw electricty going towards her. "Down!" She shouted, the sand immediately opening beneath her feet and causing her to sink down to the waste. The voltage soared over her head, much to Maeve's relief. "You're a chatty fighter, I see." She commented, the sand spitting her back out. A multitude of grains clung to her bone blades, sticking to the blood on them.

Before she could attack again, or go on talking, she felt several large vibrations. "What the hell?" Looking around, she felt her jaw drop slightly. "That little bitch..." At least one of the massive Golems was heading their way. More specifically, [i]her[/i] way. Slowly, a bloodthirsty grin crossed Maeve's face. To Solus, she said, "You're fun. A good fight. [i]That[/i], however, is much, much more fun." Her bone blades vibrated quickly and violently, shaking sand from them, and then reentered her arms. Immediately the flesh in began to heal itself where the blades have protruded.

Maeve ran towards the Golem that was approaching her, cracking her knuckles. Soon, she was within touching distance of it's massive leg. Of course, the construct lifted the leg in question to smash her. Upon it doing this, Maeve sprinted over to the other leg, and placed a hand upon it. "[b]Explode[/b]" She said. The earth around her hand obeyed, exploding to inwards and taking a large chunk out of the Golem's leg. There was a minor earthquake beneath Maeve's feet as the other leg finally came down. A quick glance up told Maeve the Golem was reaching for her. She cursed, and then hardened her bones in her hands and feet. 

Then she started attacking the leg in front of her as fast as she could, her motem Alchemy tearing huge chunks out of the construct's leg. The hand snatched her just as she gave a final kick. Her knuckles and fists were torn and bloody, and the flesh of her feet ached, even if they were protected by her boots. The Golem began to lift her, tightening it's grip all the while. Maeve drew in a breath to free herself(a feat that was growing harder and harder as her bones creaked and her lungs were compressed), and suddenly there was a loud [i]crack[/i]. For a moment, the Golem held stable, then it began to fall, only one leg still intact.

It kept squeezing as it fell. 

"Explode." Maeve croaked out, feeling some of her ribs snap. The fingers and hand around her readily complied, the shrapnel cutting her clothes and skin as she fell onto the Golem's chest, and immediately being driven down again by it's own impact on the ground. She cursed again, picking herself up, and fixing her bones with a series of painful snaps. 

The Golem was down, but not finished. It's other hand was reaching towards her. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're still kicking?" Maeve said sweetly, running forward to it's neck and head. The hand followed, slowly. She reached it's head and jumped up, increasing the density of her bones as she did so, making her heavier as she fell. Cracks appeared around where she landed, and the Golem shook. She jumped up again, and the cracks grew larger. She jumped again, and they extended around it's entire head. She jumped a final time, and it's entire head disentegrated. Leaping down, she looked rather pleased with herself. "Hah!" 

That's when she noticed that both it's legs were still intact. "I could have sworn-" The sound of rock grating against rock drew her attention from that mystery. The golem was rebuilding it's skull. And moving again. "That's...that's just great." The Golem slowly picked itself up, and Maeve just grinned. This was [i]much[/i] more fun than fighting that other Asylum. "See? What did I tell you? This thing is better than fighting you!" She called over to Solus as the golem took a massive, ponderous step towards her.

"Baby, I was just getting started" Solus winked, then focused on his Golem. It also lumbered toward him, but oddly, Solus couldn't hear a single footstep from him. Solus shook his head, ignoring it. He ran to the Golem, leaping up to the Golem's head, and planted his hand right on top of the Golem's temple. Solus forced soundwaves into the head, pulsating with the intent to disintegrate. Solus smirked for a moment, certain of his victory. But then Solus stopped.

The soundwaves weren't moving through him.

Solus stood on top of the Golem's head for a moment. This simply wasn't possible. Sound could move through nearly all substances.

Except for one.

"May god help me. It's Iridium."

Solus kneeled, bracing himself for certain death. Iridium was the densest material on Earth, and considering that the soundwaves 'disappeared' instead of simply reflecting, he knew what to expect. It was clear the Golem had absorbed it. Solus had the sinking feeling that amplifying it wouldn't be hard for the Golem.

Solus was literally shot from the Golem. The sheer force of the soundwaves returning was so powerful it literally threw him into the sky. Seconds after being shot, a loud pop was heard. The sound barrier was literally broken. Solus flew farther and farther, losing his mental sharpness. he knew within seconds he'd be unconsious, and that he needed to do something. Fast. Suddenly, Solus had an idea.

Solus caught himself, and signed as fast as he could. Immediately, he began slowing down. Solus was harnessing the sonic boom, and using the sound energy to power his following attacks. Normally, Solus would simply focus the sonic boom, and literally vaporize anything he wished by focusing it and hitting a single point. However, the Golem would simply reuse it, so Solus knew not to do that. Instead, Solus used the energy to throw himself back.

Straight at the Golem.

He flung back even faster than he was flung initially, and he readied his katana again. When he created a sonic boom once more, he quickly used the energy as well, literally flying faster than what is considered normally possible. He pointed his katana straight ahead, and dived right into the Golem.

"You had no chance."

The blade literally tore through the Golem like butter. The sheer force of the blade exploded it into thousands of pieces. Solus crashed right into the ground, but he used as much Alchemy as he could to soften the blow. The ground beneath him exploded as a crater formed beneath him. However, Solus wasn't fooled by the Golem's seemingly defeated nature. Having seen Maeve's Golem reform, he used the power of his landing's explosion, and he spoke once more.

"Apocalypsis. Et Vade."

With a strong cast, the tectonic plates beneath the earth rumbled, and a small tremor occured. However, the sound was more than enough for Solus to hitch upon. 

"Dividite."

The ground where the shards of the Golem remained had suddenly split apart, and a crevice that seemed to go down forever ripped itself into the ground. The vibrations of the mini-earthquake that Solus caused was more than enough to split the faults in the earth. The shards of the Golem fell into the crevice, as Solus pushed them lightly using sound, and they fell into the abyss below, Finally, Solus closed the crevice, and sat down, exhaused. 

He breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't expected the battle to be so quick. He leaned his head back on the ground. Out of nowhere, he heard a rumble.

Right underneath Solus, the Golem threw itself from the ground, tearing a hole right underneath Solus. Meanwhile, Solus was flung away, ramming the ground at high speeds, rolling and tumbling right toward Cionus. Cionus caught him, and they both looked back at the Golem. The Golem looked different this time, however. It was molten, the Iridium melted. Solus, falling into unconsiousness, looked back at the Golem.

"Shit."

Cionus smiled, and leaned down toward Solus, lying her hand softly on his shoulder.

"I'll take it from here, my love."

If only the battle were so simple. A second, slightly smaller golem appeared, stumbling out from behind the first. Its torso, head, and legs were made from stone but its arms were nought but sand, clawing at large fist-like boulders. It dragged them across the ground and left a long trail where it displaced sand behind it. With a single eye it gazed at Cionus and Solus almost hungrily and began its slow but aggressive stumble towards the two Asylums. It raised its arms with lethal intent and let out a groan as the stone plates that made up its face scraped against each other.
 
The golem tried to bring its fists down on Solus, taking advantage of the girl’s prone state. A single chain made of glistening silver flew out from behind the construct, weaving around its hands with the precision of sewing needle . The golem felt resistance and pulled harder. The chain held firm.
 
Alistair tilted his body to the side just enough for him to be seen by Cionus and Solus. The long chains that wrapped around the golem’s hands trailed back to him, seemingly coming out from his sleeves. He held them tightly, keeping the golem firmly in place. This contraption had created a rift between the Broken Pendulum and Cionus, giving him time to vanish. It had chased after Vail soon after with Alistair running in tow.
 
“I think we’ve got this one dealt with,” Alistair said, a goofy smile across his face. “If you could keep that one over there occupied that would be lovely.”
 
The golem turned, although not on its feet. Its head spun, as did its torso, and its jointed legs twisted and contorted so that it faced Alistair. They stared at each other for a moment and Alistair raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the capabilities of this golem. The golem clearly took it as a challenge and its legs began to pump, carrying it towards Alistair. It moved its arms, wrapping the chains firmly around its boulder-like hands and tugged, pulling Alistair towards him. The man in the pink suit held his ground, digging his heels into the ground, but every moment he was dragged a little closer to the golem.
 
‘Hon, could you deal with this for me?’ Alistair asked, the telepathic message seeking out his partner.
 
A loud yell from just behind the sandy golem was all the response Alistair needed. The sound was loud and difficult to make out, but was clearly a long stream of curses and insults hurled at the golem. There was a burst of energy behind the construct, a tiny shockwave that propelled a figure into the air, their features cast into a feminine silhouette as they hovered above the party.
 
There was a joyful cheer as the figure changed position and raised both of their oversized hands above their head in clenched fists. They began their descent back down to the ground and, with the slightest movement of their fingers and wrists, their hands were imbued with alchemical energy.
 
"Yeeeeeehaw!" called the voice as she kicked out her legs.
 
The movement created another alchemical pulse that caused her fall to pick up speed rapidly. It was barely a second before her fists collided with the golem’s skull. Vail had expected a sickening crack, followed by the golem shattering into a billion pieces before her very eyes, and while it was not quite what she had expected her impact was still profound. Her gauntlets struck the head of the golem, great cracks forming along its torso.
 
She pressed her feet against the golem’s back, pushing with her arms and legs to propel her off of the golem. Her body spun in a feat of acrobatics, a back-flip that landed her gracefully back on the ground.

One of the other Golems lunged for Seira a second time. She bit her lips and slid pass seconds before the hand smashed the ground. Second time lucky! She wondered in if there will even be a third time. She lay quite still in order to catch her breath. Her eyes widened in awe as she took in the shimmering gem and glowing eyes that shone through the clouds of dust rising around them. It was odd how she never noticed that earlier. 

The magnificent light from gem embedded in the rock plated chest eclipsed even the glow emanating from the eyes. Images of the brazen bull flashed across her mind. Slowly the Asylum scrambled to her feet. Running was her first priority. Her mind will have to sort things out later. Nothing she saw was even registering in her mind at that moment as she continued dodging the lumbering giant. Not Maeve’s battle nor even Solus' but the image of the Golem rebuilding itself after Maeve destroyed its leg and head was seared into her mind. The sound set her teeth on edge. Still it never occurred to her that being so close to the other two teams was a grave mistake. She was about to learn the hard way that safety in numbers was an adage that never held true for Asylums on the battle field. 

"Apocalypsis. Et Vade… Dividite."

Seira felt her steps grow uneven as she literally felt herself sway from side to side. She closed her eyes and shook her head violently. She had to keep focused. When her eyes opened a dark shadow was growing underneath her feet. What was that? She whipped round for a brief second. She quickly looked ahead again and concentrated on speeding up. The Golem was falling! She ran for a few more steps before nearly pulling to a stop. Another Golem was blocking her escape. She overrode her natural instincts and pressed on. 

“Fuck you, I hope that Golem kicks your ass,” she added silently to the person responsible for her current predicament. 

The adrenaline was flowing rapidly through her veins. Her muscles were sore and fatiguing due to the lactic acid build up. Each ragged breath hurts even more than the last. Tiny beads of sweat formed on her brow. Yet she remained calm. There was enough energy stored within her body for one all-or-nothing attempt to survive. The girl crouched down as she swung her arms back and forth. With a loud scream she launched herself into the air. Soon she was on the same level as the other Golem’s right shoulder. She twisted in mid-air to make full use of the momentum generated. Her boots struck the hard surface of the shoulder blade and huge cracks radiated outwards. Within seconds the arm plummeted to the ground. The Golem attacking the Raven Aegis paused. Before it could do anything it toppled helplessly like a block of domino onto the desert floor. The Golem that targeted Siera lay at the top of the heap. The sheer impact caused the head of the top most Golem to break off. The dismembered part landed with its crown firmly wedged in the sand. 

Seira curled up with her forehead tucked against her knee as she spun at a dizzying rate. Her body flipping 180 degrees along the y-axis. She swallowed hard before unfurling herself and landing on her feet. Her knees buckled. She threw her hand forward to steady herself. Her breaths were short and painful. The burning in her lungs brought the images of the bronze bull back to the forefront of her conscious mind. Her eyes fell on the head. She stared at the two gaping black pits that were once glowing eyes. The Spanish bull had eyes that glowed because of the fire burning deep within it. An internal flame that made the eyes glow. She gasped. The jewel must be the key to destroying the Golems. As the euphoria subsided she sensed the presence of someone close by. Probably the Asylum fighting the Golem before she barged in. 

“I need your help! Can…” 

Her words faltered as she glanced at the person. She grimaced slightly. Why does it have to be that psychotic Asylum? She will have to play along for now. There were always other opportunities to kill the creep should he turn on her later. The disheveled prom queen got up. She was secretly glad that the man never bothered offering to help her to her feet. She had to remember to keep her disdain to the bare minimum. 

“I believe those glowing gems have to be destroyed to stop those titans from regenerating,” she added calmly as she watched the two Golems that were starting to reform. “Then we can deliver a fatal blow.”

She swallowed a little to prevent her voice from growing hoarse. There was barely enough saliva washing down her parched throat. “A plan will be good. Hey! Are you even listening to me?”

"Ugh,"

Fletcher's head was throbbing. Blacking out was never fun whether it was caused by alcohol or a rubber slug moving at 2700 feet per second. He grunted a second time. Or tried to, his lungs were screaming from a lack of air. As his breathing slowly normalized and the wheezing faded, he looked around at the veritable shitstorm swirling around him.

Golems.

Huge. Fucking. Rock men.

Fletcher couldn't believe what he was seeing and how ridiculously cool it was. Well it was cool until a giant stony fist came rushing through the air and almost crushed him flat. Screw oxygen, adrenaline would do the job just fine. 

He leap to his feet and clumsily managed to dodge another mighty swing from the golem. As Fletcher recovered, he looked over his shoulder and saw the prom queen from earlier deliver a deft kick that crumbled one of the rock men to pieces. 

Sweet

The victory was short-lived, however, as the golem slowly began reassembling itself.

The prom queen's voice rang out - a cry for help

She kept rambling about something but Fletcher had stopped listening after "help." A chance for Fletcher to save the day? Hell yes

"Fletch," it was Isaiah over the comm. The impact had caused some damage to the hardware but the voice came through, "The golems have a core to them that provides their regenerative ability,"

"Let me stop you right there Mac. I think I can handle this,"

Isaiah let out a sigh, "I know Fletch, I just think it'd be sweet to use your magnetic alchemy here. That's always been your strong suit,"

"Hey now, what a great idea! Glad I thought of it," Fletcher smirked

His fingers began moving rapidly and low, earthy syllables began flowing from his mouth. The alchemy rushing though his system always gave him a rush. His right eye fluttered and the goose flesh rippled on his forearms. The chanting grew louder and louder until he was practically yelling. As the last word left his lips, the air seemed to shutter and his alchemy weaved its way into the world.

The golems had just put themselves back together when they suddenly flew through the air. Their collision boomed out causing Fletcher's ears to ring. They struggled but the magnetic pull between the two of them was stronger. Fletcher was all grins.

"Your move prom queen."

"Prom queen?" 

Seira rolled her eyes. Why must he remind her that she was wearing this tattered fairy rags? It was so embarrassing that her skirt barely covered anything above her thigh. Still he did help her restraint those pesky Golems. She cracked her knuckles. Now is her turn to show him what she is really made of. 

She smiled cynically as she gave Fletcher a mock curtsy. "Why not? I would love to have this dance. It is my favorite song."

She flicked her hair back as she turned away. “A single bullet will be enough to shatter those two when I am done.” 

The female Asylum threw her hands forward and cartwheeled. After three successive flips she reached the foot of the one of the Golems. She ducked as it tried to kick her. Grabbing onto the leg she vaulted up. Seira ran up the steep and shaky incline before leaping up. She landed gracefully on top of the shoulder of the Golem. With two more bounds she mounted its head and perched there. She took a deep breath and began channeling all the stored motem energy into one powerful incantation. She needed to freeze them to a point where both the Golems and their core can be shattered by a single, powerful blow.

“Mighty rock, solid sentinel
Can no one soften your hardened heart?
An icy heart when there is no snow
Harder and harder you become 
Till but a prick shall make you break.” 

White mist rose from her mouth as she panted. The Golems grew more and more sluggish as the chill raced downwards. Loud snapping and cracking came from joints as the Golems tried resisting the paralyzing effect of the cast. Chunks of freezing cold rock showered the ground below. The core was flickering through the thick layer of ice crystals growing round it. Like a candle flame left out on a cold winter’s day its glow was no longer as bright nor vibrant as before. She slumped down completely spent. Any moment now would be good. There was no response from her supposed partner in crime. Her temper flared. Come on, where was that finishing blow? 

“Hurry up! I can’t keep them like this forever.”

It was a solid thing, the slug. Almost 1.5 ounces of lead shaped by lasers in some factory in the middle of nowhere. Isaiah favored them for their above average weight and knockdown power. His favorite part, however, was the casing. He had designed it himself and always thought of it as one of his more clever ideas. The slug would be housed in a syringe-of-sorts. The needle at the tip would allow a reservoir of of Anti-alchemical substance to gush into the target's bloodstream. Then the small shaped charge behind the slug would propel it into the flesh. Gore would abound and Fletcher would giggle like a school girl.

Golems were a bit different. They had no flesh. Fletcher had relayed the plan to him and Isaiah now prepared to take his shot. The golems were made of stone - no needle would prove effective here. So he had just snapped it off. With luck, the shaped charge would still detonate and the golems would be dust. Or the girl and his partner would die. Isaiah was almost positive that wouldn't happen, though.

He gave Isabella a loving pat on the stock and fired up the magnetic-propulsion array that wound its way down the barrel. It hummed to life as he squinted with one eye and peered down the sights. Fortunately golems were big targets. He squeezed the trigger and let his rifle do its job.

There was no sound as the slug left the barrel, the noise would come later. He saw a few shards of ice plink into the air as the slug made contact with the frozen golems but it wasn't until the roar of the detonation rippled in his direction that a smile crossed his face. The results were glorious. The golems shattered into thousands of stony ice-shards. 

"That work for ya, prom queen?" Fletcher leered at her with a look of satisfaction.

He wants to be praised? Seira’s mind did a slight double take. Still the Hybrid took it in her stride. Flattery wasn’t new to her. It would be good to befriend them for now. After all her partner was next to useless most of the time. She beamed and clasped her hands together enthusiastically. 

“That … was AMAZING. How did you do it?” 

She continued gushing till she was sure that he wasn’t listening anymore. It wasn’t too hard really. That single shot – the killing blow - was very impressive indeed. It had to be the cleanest shot she had ever seen. No sound till afterwards. A shot worthy of a Silencer. Assuming that it was this Asylum’s partner of course. She was determined to never be impressed by a lunatic like the man she was pretending to praise. 

“Well Mister, can you show me your skill again?” She asked coyly. “There are still 3 Golems yet to be down. You ARE the strongest Asylum that I know.” 

Her coal black eyes were fixed on Maeve’s Golem. Interesting. That female Asylum was the person she promised to help after she won the game. Seira admitted that the lady had guts to try and take on the Golem by herself. The newbie couldn’t help but wonder if the other teams have found out the Golems’ weakness yet.