The Grand Battle [Game Over!]

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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The skeletons piled upon Eximo. It was able to disable three of them with its tools, but the rest grabbed its arms. Their grip was too strong to retract the arms and try again, also.

"Hahahaha!" Lutherion cackled, pushing away another VC that wanted to vacuum him. "Now the only question is, which of you should I destroy first?"

Wonderful, thought Amethyst. He can't decide if I've given him more trouble than a vacuum cleaner. I think I'm insulted.

Lutherion savored the moment, glancing back and forth between his victims. The remaining vacuum cleaners were still a nuisance, but they lacked Eximo's defenses. He knocked another one away as he made his decision.

"I'll take the girl first. She'll be a more interesting servant, hahahahaha!"

"No."

That was the old woman's voice! Lutherion turned to face her.

"So, you're here as well? Perhaps I'll kill you first, then!" He laughed again, as he prepared to retrieve another bone splinter...

and felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He looked to his side; Alcarith stood in the doorway, aiming her pistol at him. Aeon was beside her, looking serious, and holding out his strange tool.

"Well, well, well! I believe this means everyone's here except that boy with the butterknife!" Lutherion cackled. "This is going to be the most fun I've had in a while!"

"It's not a butterknife." Lutherion turned around; Nathan stabbed him in the gut almost immediately. Lutherion glared at him, and prepared to strike back, but Aeon tackled him to the ground.

Emily ran past the melee, towards Amethyst, and began healing her.

Amethyst stood up. "Thank you. I was in need of that." She looked at the struggling Eximo. "Perhaps we should help it, as well?"

Emily looked displeased. "That thing is demonic in nature. And it's not even remotely alive. I can't say I care what happens to it."

It didn't matter. Nathan and Aeon's struggle with Lutherion caused the skeletons to reflexively rush to their master's aid, ignoring the vacuum. The nearest two were immediately destroyed as the vacuum countered; the rest fell to Alcarith's bullets and Emily's magic.

Just then, there was a loud noise, and the building shook.

"What was that?" Alcarith asked.

Aeon turned to her, still fighting off Lutherion. "Another building probably crashed into the store. The same thing happened to this barn."

Amethyst suddenly seemed alarmed. "Excuse me. I need to check something." She closed her eyes and concentrated. Then she suddenly opened them, shocked.

"Aeon is correct. The restaurant has collided with the store. I imagine the bomb is still inside it, but even if someone were to retrieve it, that would be the least of our worries."

"What do you mean?" Nathan asked, as he swung at Lutherion's normal arm. Eximo joined the melee; apparently he considered Lutherion especially disruptive to the cleansing by now.

"You will recall the device in the restaurant controlling the rate at which it descends? This barn and the store have objects which serve a similar function. They generate fields which control the entire building..."

Alcarith looked puzzled. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"The fields from the three buildings are interfering with each other and becoming unstable. Unless we find some way to stop it, this will produce an immense explosion. I cannot say just how large, especially if another building collides with us; there may not even be a safe place in this entire void."

Even Lutherion seemed alarmed by this news. Or perhaps it was by the fact that one of Eximo's arms had found its way into a sensitive area. Either way, the vacuum was the next to speak.

"The cleansing has been re-prioritized. Primary objective: Ensure there is still a location to cleanse."