Adam stared in shock as a gout of purplish fluid pulsed from his shoulder, then he gasped as Von Pinn tossed his arm aside and then swung back and punched her hand through his chest, crushing his spasming heart in her grasp before tossing it to the deck.
Adam blinked, then his eyes rolled up into his head and he pitched forward. Agatha found herself screaming until a hand grabbed her arm and brutally dragged her up to Lilith’s terrifyingly calm face. “Go.” Her voice was as calm as her face. “Get to Castle Heterodyne. It will help you.”
Before Agatha could respond, she felt herself flung upwards. She caught a brief glimpse of Von Pinn centimeters away from Lilith, who was smiling calmly. “We love you!” She called out, “Now run!”
Agatha arced upwards and sailed over the railing of the balcony that circled the room. To her astonishment, she saw a huddled mass of wide-eyed figures, onto which she landed. Desperately she clawed her way back to the railing, in time to see Von Pinn finish ripping Lilith to bloody bits. Just as Agatha realized what she was seeing, Von Pinn’s head snapped towards her with a glare that burned its way into her memory, where it resurfaced in nightmares for several years to come. Upon seeing Agatha, Von Pinn shrieked, “MINE!” and darted out of the room.
A hand dropped onto Agatha’s shoulder, causing her to scream in terror, but it was only Theo DuMedd. She realized that the figures were, in fact, the other students who were staring at her. It was Hezekiah who broke the silence. “We’d better get out of here!” He glanced back over the balcony at the mess below, and took Agatha’s other arm. “Now!”
Agatha shook herself free. “But I have to—”
A number of the others began to speak up, when a commanding voice cut through the babble. “Move! Or their deaths will be wasted!”
Everyone turned in surprise, and there, poised regally before them atop a canister, was Krosp. “Follow me,” he ordered. “I can take you to the airship that the constructs used to get here. Now hurry!” With that he leapt to the ground and strode off. Unhesitatingly, Agatha moved, and with the briefest of pauses, the rest quickly followed.
It was Z who felt he had to state the obvious. “It’s a talking cat.”
Theo shrugged. “Well, we’re in a Heterodyne story now. These things happen.” The others nodded.
“Hey, Theo,” Nicodeamus realized, “she’s your cousin!”
Theo stumbled. “Wow. I never had any family before.” He considered this briefly. “I mean that wasn’t dead, or missing, or a head in a jar or something.”
Meanwhile at the front of the crowd, Agatha was trying to cope with the events of the last few minutes. “Lilith! She—”
“Focus!” Krosp roared over his shoulder.
Agatha swallowed and nodded. “I… I don’t know how to fly an airship.”
“Well, you’re in luck. I do.” He frowned. “I’ll need something to stand on, though.”
Agatha’s brain gratefully seized the memory that bubbled up. “The airship manual—and the controls laid out on the floor. Those were yours?”
“Yes. I think I have everything memorized, so it wasn’t that big a setback.”
Agatha glanced back over her shoulder at the crowd following. Hezekiah puffed along behind her, a disbelieving grin on his face. Agatha dropped back slightly so she was running alongside him. “So what are you guys doing here?”
“We came to help you and Gil. We sure didn’t expect this,” he admitted. “You’re a Heterodyne heir. Wow!”
Agatha shrugged. “Even if it’s true, it doesn’t change—”
“Don’t be even more absurd,” Zulenna interrupted. It was obvious from her face that the girl was almost as upset by the day’s events as Agatha. “It changes everything. The Heterodynes saved my family’s lands. Designed our defenses. When he incorporated our lands into the Empire, the Baron had to treat us with respect. We would have been another backwater former monarchy without their help.” Zulenna sighed. “Whereas you yourself have done nothing; many of those who owe your family will feel obligated to support you. This could be a problem if you are not under the Baron’s direct control. Arguably, to best preserve the stability of the Pax Transylvania, perhaps you should—”
“Naughty children!” The voice sent chills down their spines, and without conscious volition, the group stumbled to a halt. Filling the corridor behind them was the figure of Von Pinn, who glided forward. “Stop this at once,” she hissed. “Bring me the Agatha girl.”
The group was frozen until Zulenna suddenly stepped forward and, with a whisper, drew the rapier from the scabbard at her waist. Without looking back at the group she ordered them, “Go! I’ll hold her off!”
Theo blinked. “Zulenna, what are you--”
“My family owes her family. Everything that I am dictates that I do this. Now GO!”
“Good luck,” Krosp offered. “Now move!” With that the group reluctantly ran off. Seeing this, Von Pinn flowed forward impossibly fast, but found herself blocked in the narrow corridor by Zulenna’s sword. She reared up. “Get out of my way, child.”
Zulenna’s hand shook slightly, but her voice remained firm. “You talk a good game, Madam, but you’ve never actually hurt any of us. Don’t make me hurt you.”
Vonn Pinn made a few lightning fast swipes at Zulenna’s sword, but was unable to grab it. “You cannot hurt me, but I will hurt you in order to pass.”
“Then that is what you will have to do.”
Von Pinn screamed and lunged forward. Zulenna retreated slightly and slashed at Von Pinn’s face. The construct flinched. “I am charged with your safety. I do not want to hurt you!” she muttered.
A friendly hand dropped onto her shoulder. Von Pinn spun and found Bangladesh at her side with a sympathetic look sitting incongruously on her face. “Kids, huh? What are you gonna do?” She patted the construct’s leather-clad shoulder. “Let me take care of this.”
“You must not—”
Bangladesh raised a hand in reassurance. “Relax. I ain’t gonna hurt her. I’ll just get her out of the way.” With that she strode forward, a gleaming cutlass weaving idle figures in the air. “Hi, girlie, let’s play!”
Zulenna brought her sword up, but clearly was unsure how to handle DuPree’s casual advance. “I’m warning you—”
Bangladesh smiled. “Say, that’s mighty nice of you.” Her cutlass flicked out and Zulenna barely intercepted it in time. Bangladesh continued to walk forward, casually engaging the girl in a lightning fast series of moves. She spoke conversationally. “And really, a lot of people would consider you pretty good.” With that, she brought her sword down from above. Zulenna raised her arm to block it, allowing Bangladesh to step forward and deftly sink a slim dagger into the girl’s breast with her other hand.
Zulenna froze and stared at the spreading patch of red on her shirt. DuPree sighed and patted her shoulder. “But you know, I’m a Pirate Queen. I do this for a living. Adios, kid.” With that, Zulenna’s eyes rolled up into her head and she slumped to the ground. Bangladesh pirouetted around her as she fell, and grinned back at Von Pinn. “See? She never felt a thing. Now let’s get the rest of them. This is fun!”
Von Pinn screamed and launched herself forward, claws extended.
For a fraction of a second, a look of surprise crossed Bangladesh’s face, then she fell back laughing. “Oh yeah! Better and better!” Moving like a dancer, she swiveled and cut at the enraged construct as Von Pinn roared past her. The sword cut through the leather and a deep gash appeared. “So big and scary,” DuPree taunted. “But you’ve got no teeth when it comes to the kids, hey? Well that’ll make it even more fun when I catch ‘em.”