“What the shit?” I muttered as two more portraits slammed onto the screen with digital explosions.
The first was of the Maestro. The hair-covered orc sneered down at me.
The world remained frozen. In my periphery, far beyond the edge of the trainyard I saw movement. It was Donut astride Mongo, galloping full-tilt toward us. She was still far away, and she had dozens of ghouls and minions between her and me. Half were frozen in place, the other, closer half moved toward her. She fired missile after missile at them.
No, I thought. Stay the fuck away. You’re just going to die, too. I tried to send a chat, but it wouldn’t let me.
The portrait of the Maestro became animated for a short moment. It was an interview with him. “Yeah,” he said, his condescending voice echoing oddly throughout the trainyard. “People thought I was on that ship, but my brother had already brought me into the dungeon.” He laughed. “Like I’d be stupid enough to be vulnerable like that. You gotta try harder next time, worms. The Maestro ain’t going down that easily. Oh, and rest well, mom.”
The second portrait was that of Grull. He was a black-skinned, overly-muscular minotaur-like beast, but with a horse’s body. A centaur with the head of a big, pissed-off bull complete with a golden ring in its snout. He held a smoking, double-headed axe.
Frozen on the ground next to me, the mantaur cracked in half. Steam burst forth. It was the only movement in the frozen area of the trainyard. I knew in order to be summoned, Grull had to emerge out of a “vessel” which meant he would pop out of the body like a chick from an egg.
The two portraits, of the Maestro and of Grull merged, forming a single picture. The god now had a distinctly Maestro-like face. The portrait sneered down at me from the air.
War God Grull. Level 250. Sponsored by Prince Maestro of the Skull Empire.
Warning: This is a deity. He is invulnerable on this floor.
This god has been involuntarily summoned to this location. Summoning rules apply.
The child of Taranis and Apito, Grull, the god of war, is one of the few trueborn heirs to the Celestial Ascendency. But with an angry streak as long as a horse’s cock, Taranis worries his son may not be the best choice to rule the heavens. Plus his worshippers tend to be donkeys and other equine-themed creatures. It’s a bit unsettling, even to a god.
Grull cannot die. But even if he could, would it really matter? At level 250, he could raze this entire floor in a day.
I hope you said your prayers and brought the lube, because you about to get fucked from here to eternity.
The description ended. The portraits all disappeared with a strobing explosion, sprinkling onto the ground like glitter. It was like we were at a goddamned monster truck rally. We were still frozen. The music got louder, faster.
The god has the obvious advantage here, ladies and gentlemen, but the Mimic has the speed, the minions, and the head start. Who will win? Will Carl die screaming? What will be left? Get your bets in now because.
Here.
We.
Goooooooo!
The world unfroze just as light burst into the air from the mangled mantaur body. The mimic tongue lashed at me, fast as a whip, slapping into the still-forming god, tossing it aside. It flew through the air, rocketing away from me.
I rolled and slammed onto the last item in my hotlist. I applied my potion of Invisibility just as the tongue smacked into the spot I’d been.
Dude! Where’d you go? You are invisible for 30 seconds. (Your Intelligence X 2)
Fucking hell, I should have put more points in that damn stat.
The mimic roared in anger. It—she—belched, and a fetid stench washed over the trainyard. A mass of the mouth minions burst forth, chattering. Each one was the size of a rhinoceros. They fanned out, several coming toward me.
At the same time, far to my left, trains and rocks and hunks of metal exploded outward as the god formed, rising higher and higher into the air until his head was halfway to the ceiling. I cowered as debris showered around me. On my map, a pulsing and spiraling red star appeared, spinning in circles like a buzzsaw.
One of the minions cried out as it was splattered by a falling rock. The gore sprouted legs and rushed back toward the mimic.
Grull screamed, his voice as loud as one of those alarm traps. He held the gigantic axe in the air. The handle looked to be a living oak tree, and the metal head of the axe moved, as if it was made of still-molten metal. He swung it up over his head, the axe trailing smoke. The top of the weapon seemed to clear the roof of the chamber by inches. He swung down, hitting nothing. He swung the axe a few times, as if testing the weight and heft of the weapon, which was the size of a goddamned passenger jet in his meaty hands.
The front part of Grull himself stood about four stories tall. Huge. Imposing. Terrifying. Yet, he still seemed small. As if this was a miniature version of his true form.
The mimic, I realized, was still bigger than the god. But it didn’t matter. It was clear who was stronger.
“Here piglet, piglet,” a deep, rumbling voice called. “You can’t get away from me this time. I’ve been waiting for this.”
I got up to run along the back wall, away from the god and away from the city boss.
Donut: CARL! CARL! WE’RE COMING!
Carclass="underline" Donut. Get the fuck away from here. Bring the cart closer and bring that goddamned mantaur. But don’t come into the trainyard. I’m going to angle around and try to run out.
Donut: THE TRAINYARD WALLS MAGICALLY CAME BACK, BUT THEY’RE ONLY HALF VISIBLE. IT’S LIKE THE BOSS BATTLES ON THE FIRST FLOOR. I THINK YOU CAN GO IN, BUT YOU CAN’T COME BACK! YOU’RE STUCK IN THERE. I SAW ONE OF THE MINIONS GO IN, BUT THEN HE COULDN’T COME BACK TO GET ME.
Fuck. Fuck.
The tongue smashed onto the ground twenty feet in front of me, throwing me off my feet. A train car split in half, parts showering everywhere. A pair of the giant mouths made gargling noises as they shuffled forward on their millipede feet. I was about to be cornered, despite being invisible.
Carclass="underline" Okay. Forget about me. Continue with the mission. Don’t risk the cart. You need to get the bomb into the abyss. Brandy will walk you through setting the Nightmare up to explode. After, go to Elle and Imani. They’ll take care of you.
Donut: DON’T BE AN IDIOT, CARL. THAT’S NOT FUNNY.
Grull cleaved down with his axe, hitting the ground. The entire world shook. He was facing away from me, but I flew off my feet. The ground all around where he hit buckled and tore up, like it’d been struck with a meteor. The shockwave hit me, and it felt as if I’d been hit with a train. I hit the ground, bounced off the wall, and tumbled and rolled. I hit the edge of a portal. One of the portals the named trains used to go back to the loop. My heart leapt, but only for a moment. The portal was turned off. All of the trainyard portals were off.
Carclass="underline" Goddamnit, Donut. I’m fucked. Go. Get out of here before he sees you.
My health was in the red. I took a potion. I turned from the wall and ran along the tracks, running between a pair of named engines sitting cold. I could see the glowing walls of the trainyard, a quarter mile away. To my left, Grull loomed, slowly turning. The mimic’s tongue lashed into the air.
I had but seconds left on my invisibility. I contemplated just staying here, between the trains. I was hidden. But for how long?
A shadow appeared, blocking the exit between the trains. It was one of the mouth things. Huge, slobbering. It was a giant mouth of sharp, needle-like teeth and nothing more, an impossible piece of anatomy.