Vitcity

Nora

Nora's key produces a new book, red, with a ring of knives drawn on the cover. The book's pages look sharp enough to cut like a blade.

Tome of Blades (Phys +10, Fire Atk +6, Anti-aether +1, Lifesteal +1, Lethality -5)

"You seem to like red, huh," Tom says.

"Alright, get ready," Alpha says. "If she's in the Planetarium, she's probably holed up in the big... projector room thing. I say we just rush in and kick the door open."

Nora

Everyone looks at each other and nods.  Alpha takes the point, raising their shield, winding back, then charging the door.  They plow through with a shattering of glass and crunching of metal, and they keep charging.  You all chase after them, making straight for the central chamber.  As you enter the domed projection room, you're staggered backwards momentarily by a burst of heat.

"Ah, damn it...!" Tom yells.  "That heat's... not great...  even with the new armor..."

It doesn't seem quite so bad, really.

As your eyes adjust to the heat, you find the projector that should be sitting in the middle of the room has been replaced by what appears to be a large egg, glowing with bright orange swirls.  The walls are dotted with projections of shining, sparkling stars.  Inside the egg, you can vaguely make out a humanoid, female outline, curled up in a ball.

Alice.

The egg begins to rise, forming the head of a tall pillar.  A cross bursts from the top.

A king chess piece.

Its glow intensifies, and the air at its side shimmers with visible heat.

A queen chess piece takes shape and begins to advance, moving between you and Alice.  Demonic wings burst from its back, and the piece's head shifts into that of a snarling dragon.

Nora

Tia wastes no time unleashing her guardian form and shifting into a giant snake-woman again.

While Nora stays back, Tom charges in, wrapping the chain around his fist.  He smashes it into the dragon-queen, which proceeds to draw its wings back and slap him away.  Tom shakes the attack off and hops back up.  Alpha runs past him to slash the piece, but it barely reacts.

The stars on the ceiling flare up and glow brighter, before beams of celestial flame rain down.  Tom manages to dodge out of the way, and Alpha manages to get their shield up in time.  Tia seems to get hit a lot harder than you do.

Flames appear in the queen's mouth.

"That's not good..." Tom says.

"I'm on it, I'm on it!" Alpha yells.

Nora

Nora, cape turned to wings, makes for the king piece while the queen turns to attack her.

Alpha leaps at the queen, shoving their shield in its mouth.  The fire erupts around the shield, dissipating to the sides.  Alpha gets launched back from the force, slamming into the wall.  They drop their sword and scramble for it.

The queen doesn't seem ready to give up, but Tia wraps around it, squeezing and hissing.

Nora takes the opening to fire a blast of water at Alice.  The egg bursts with steam, and the king piece shudders.  Inside the egg, Alice stirs slightly.

"That's it, keep that up!" Tom yells.  He swings his chain and slaps the queen piece.  "We'll keep this one b-"

The stars shine again, beams of fire raining down.  Tom ducks out of the way, but Alpha is hit in the chest.  They let out a gasp, then force themselves back up.  A beam grazes Nora.  Tia takes the worst of it, unable to evade while wrapped around the queen, being struck in several places.  She lets out a furious hiss.

Nora

The queen piece spins in a circle, launching fireballs wildly as Tia tries to hold on.  The fireballs go flying past her, exploding randomly around the room.  Alpha manages to get their shield up and avoid the worst of it.  Tom jumps out of the way of one fireball only to be hit by another.  His key starts making a much louder sound.

"God...  Damn it!" he yells.  "I'm just getting in the way!"

Alice shifts inside the egg.

Tom scoops himself up and jumps back towards the door, breaking into a run as the lasers rain down again.  A blast hits him in the back as he makes it through, and you see his armor flickering in and out as the key reaches a shrill whine.

Outside, you spot a bishop-shaped piece ready to cut him off.  Mareena runs past, grabbing Tom by the hand and pulling him into a run.  "Made it!  This way...  Wait!" she pauses for a moment.

Outside, there's a flash so bright it lights up the room inside, accompanied by a furious rumbling and piercing howl.

"OK, go!" Mareena yells, shoving Tom in the back.  "We'll stop any more of these things from getting in!"

Alpha manages to pick up their sword and charge, but gets knocked aside by all the lasers raining down.  Tia takes the brunt of the barrage again.  Her key starts whining, and alarms start ringing from Alpha's armor as well.

Tia roars and bites into the queen, constricting around it harder.

Inside the egg, Alice stirs again.

"Damn...  All this back-to-back fighting's put too much stress on the frame, huh.  Nothing for it, I guess.  We need to hit them hard and end this fast!  Let's smash this stupid dragon thing!"  Alpha drops their gear and rubs the back of their head.  "Alpha, emergency condition.  Suppress all warnings, disengage limiters!  Engage Oversoul!"

As Nora fires at the egg again, it shudders violently.  As the piece settles back to the floor, Alice's eyes slowly open.  She blinks, confused as she takes in the scene.  She stares at Nora for a moment, then at the others.  And then her eyes narrow in anger.  She grabs her mask and starts trying to rip it off, thrashing around in the egg.  The king piece shakes more violently.  Alice stops, closing her eyes in focus.

A small knight piece appears next to Nora.  It shimmers for a moment, then takes the form of a smaller version Alice riding on her shoulder.  Nora can feel it channeling aether into her.

Nora

"Gotcha!" Alpha yells.  A camera appears in their hand, and they quickly snap a picture of the queen piece.  It starts to glow, and you can see a network of cracks and bright spots.  "...There!  Aim at that spot on its right!"

You maneuver to hit it and the king piece holding Alice at the same time.  It pierces through the queen piece, barely avoiding Tia, and hits the king as well.

The statue shudders, then flings its wings wide.  It throws Tia off, violently, as another barrage of the celestial fire rains down.  The queen piece cracks and starts to crumble, huge pieces of the ceramic falling off.  A form beneath shakes, sending the last chunks flying.  A large, silver-scaled dragon glares beneath, a frilled crest of horns rising from its neck as it snarls.  With a furious roar, it leaps into the air, snatching Alice's orb from the crumbling king and ripping it away.  It clutches it in its front arms, rearing back, snarling, and flaring its wings.

Tia, lying near the door, groans.  Her key starts blaring while she changes back into her human form, armor phasing in and out.

"I've got her!" Mareena calls from the door.  She grabs Tia by the shoulder.

"No!  I can still-" Tia yells.

Mareena headbutts her, then tosses the dazed snake-girl over her shoulders and flees.  "More help's on the way!  But good luck!"

As the stars rain down again, Alpha's armor falls to pieces.  Underneath, you find him dressed in a checkered shirt, with a vest and overalls.  A flat cap pulled low over his face keeps it hidden.  "Damn it, can't we stop that damn light..." he says.

The ceiling shakes violently before a large section shatters.  A massive angel descends through the gap, face wreathed in flames.  Another figure leaps down beside her, landing on the ground with a roll.  The woman - older than you by far - doesn't say anything as she drops into a fighting stance.

The dragon roars again, swinging its tail in a wide arc.  The tiny Alice figure leaps forward from Nora's shoulder, blocking the swing with a sword the size of your finger.  It knocks the swing away just enough to woosh over your head, rustling your hood.