by Rick Scott
Rembrandt is held!
His feet leave the ground as an invisible force lifts him into the air, a faint purple hue strung about his neck, connected to LeChat’s fingers.
“Get him!” LeChat cries. “He’s out of CC breakers for at least 40 seconds!”
My stomach lurches as they all lay into him like a punching bag, blood and
spit flying as he cries out in pain.
Rem…
“Make it last!” Deathlock shouts, stowing his pistols and switching to his fists. “Make him feel every ounce of it before he dies!”
The kings and queens laugh with a macabre glee as they tear into Rembrandt with punches and kicks. LeChat adjusts her Phantom Grip from holding him in the air to pressing him against the ground, making it easier for them to kick him like a dog. Rembrandt’s health slips into the red, only his huge defense bonus as a True Ronin keeping him alive. The crowds from the Major houses holler and cheer, relishing his imminent demise.
I glance up at Queen Angela and catch a smile spread across her lips. “About time…”
What the hell? “I can’t believe you, Angela! Is that what you truly wanted? Just to see him killed and humiliated like this?”
She doesn’t even look at me. “That will remain up to him.”
My stomach tightens with rage. “Max was almost winning that fight! If he would have, Rembrandt wouldn’t even need to be in there right now!”
“No… Max could never have done it, even if he had won.”
What? “What are you talking about?”
She then smiles again and nods towards something in the distance.
I look to where she’s grinning and see what she was perhaps smiling at the first time. A huge figure sails through the air, powered by a stream of white-hot plasma. It then drops straight out of the sky at a right angle with another huge blast of jets. It lands in the center of the arena with a massive boom, the entire floor shaking with a shockwave of debris. Slowly, Lord Kurgan rises to his full height amidst the smoldering ashes of his landing and the crowd explodes into a revelry of cheers.
Angela looks down at me with a grin. “Because then he never would have shown up.”
Kurgan looks even bigger than I remember him, his armored metal skin now polished to a high chrome shine. His head, still much smaller than his body, sports the same platinum-blonde hair, but it’s shaved into a crew cut that accentuates the battle scars on his face and the metal patch covering his left eye. He grins as he stands, revealing his ugly leaden teeth.
“King killer’s done for now!”
“Diving justice from the fist of a god!”
“Bust him up, Kurgan!”
I check him as he materializes his huge katana and pistol.
Name: Kurgan
Sex: Male
Race: Android
Class: Gun Blade
Level: 89
Guild: New London
Zanbatō: +180 STR +180 DEX +30% Critical Damage
Particle Beam Emitter: +70 Dex +40 Aim +25% Crit Chance
What? How the heck is he level 89 already??
The other kings in the ring back off, releasing Rembrandt at only 15% health.
“Get up…” Kurgan says, ignoring the other kings as they scurry behind him.
Rembrandt breathes heavily, coughing up blood. Then slowly he lifts himself off the floor. “Looks like my time has finally come…” he says, standing on shaky legs. “Exact your vengeance as you must, Lord Kurgan. I more than deserve it.”
Kurgan’s face twists with rage. “You think you can get away with saying some crap like that to me? You’ll suffer long and hard for what you did to my brother!”
My heart races as Kurgan lunges towards Rembrandt and the cyberpunker does nothing to stop him. He pegs him with an elbow and Rembrandt goes flying across the arena, knocked down to 2% health.
Rem…no!
I look back to Queen Angela, even more incensed. “Were you just holding out to see him killed by Kurgan?” What kind of monster is she? “Are you really this cruel? I thought you loved him!”
“Love has many forms,” she says without looking at me again. “Now pay close attention, Reece. And witness what it takes to be a true leader.”
Her body swirls with 1s and 0s as she buffs herself with several abilities I haven’t seen before.
Angela uses Penetrating Shot!
Target Armor values are halved.
Angela readies Quick Reset!
Automatically repeat your next action.
The android then raises her arm to the sky and a thin beam of blue light forms at Kurgan’s feet. The True Ronin pauses, looking for the source, but before he can react a brilliant white light forms at his feet.
Angela uses Aerial Barrage!
My heart jumps as Kurgan’s massive HP bar depletes in two short bursts, the ground exploding twice in quick succession at his feet.
Kurgan take 25000(30000) plasma damage!
Kurgan take 25000(30000) plasma damage!
Angela defeats Kurgan!
He releases a loud groan before his enormous body keels over and breaks into several smoldering pieces as it hits the ground.
Holy crap!
My heart is still thundering in my chest when Queen Angela leaps from my side, flying ahead thirty feet into the center of the ring. She raises her gun arm again and the thin blue beams form at the feet of everyone in the arena, including Rembrandt.
A deathly silence falls over the crowd as everyone looks on, perplexed.
The High Council Najur stands to his feet. “Queen Angela! What is the—”
“Silence!” she shouts in an augmented voice, cutting him off as the sound reverberates powerfully throughout the arena.
“You’ve all witnessed the power I now wield,” Angela says, placing a high-heeled boot on what’s left of Kurgan’s body. “Either submit to me, or suffer the same fate as Lord Kurgan. But either way…This day, I will be declared High Queen.”
Chapter 53: Royal Revolution
I can’t believe this is happening.
Did I create another monster by getting Queen Angela that weapon? One even worse than Kurgan?
Rembrandt looks across at her. “Angela, what are you—?”
“Save it, Rembrandt,” she cuts him off. “You had your chance to rule. Now it’s my turn.”
“If you’re doing this just to see me punished, then I’ll gladly submit.”
She looks at him and scoffs. “Don’t flatter yourself. The only reason I forced you into this match was to ensure I got Kurgan center stage where I wanted him. Now, no one will question my resolve.”
I think back to when she first agreed to this match. Was she planning all this from way back then? The thought that she could be so calculating is unnerving, but certainly not out of character for who she’s now revealed herself to be.
“You really think these people will follow you after this?” Rembrandt says. “Having the biggest stick doesn’t make you a ruler, Angela, only a tyrant. This isn’t the way, love. This isn’t you!”
“What the hell do you know about being me?” Angela fires back at him. “You think because you’ve turned into some spineless martyr that you’ve got the right to preach to me now? You’ll die like everyone else who doesn’t submit, Rembrandt, so make your damn choice.” She then shouts in her augmented voice, “That goes for the lot of you! You all have 30 seconds until my cooldown resets. You’d better make your choice before then. Submit to me as High Queen or die!”
A charging sound goes off as she powers up the aerial cannon again.
This is crazy…
The mood abruptly shifts within the crowd. Murmurs start and De-Synch begins to run in a panic, while Queen LeChat falls to her knees. In the crowds it’s even worse as people try to rush out of the arena in a stampede.
“Order! Order!” The High Council Najur struggles to regain control. “Queen Angela, you have violated—!”
“Shut up and
just do your job!” she says. “Declare me High Queen or they’ll all die. 15 seconds left.”
The crowd grows more unruly, the spectators in the bleachers causing an uproar, throwing debris into the ring.
I look to Lance. “Was this your plan?”
He shakes his head slowly. “Wasn’t supposed to go quite like this.”
“Five seconds!” Angela begins counting down.
“Four!”
“Three!”
“Two!”
She hesitates as she glances around the ring at the other kings. “Bow down! Bow down to me now!”
De-Synch finally does so, but the others stand their ground.
“The Hellions will never bow to a lower house!” Deathlock says, pointing his pistol at her. “High Council, strip this upstart of her throne. She’s made a mockery of this court. She shouldn’t even be in this ring!”
“I concur!” King Luther unsheathes his two-handed sword. “You’re not fit for anything, much less being High Queen. You think we’d cower to you because you killed Kurgan with a sucker punch like that?”
“You’re a weak-hearted medic, Angela.” Queen Vivika scoffs at her. “Always have been. I bet you don’t have the stones to slay any of us. You’re not fit to be in this ring, much less a High Queen.”
More tense seconds pass as Queen Angela’s composure begins to slip, her eyes flicking back and forth with uncertainty and she shouts at them again. “Come on. Kneel! I’ll do it!”
But the bluff is all but hollow now and laughter begins to form throughout the crowd. As if to accentuate the mockery, the leader board shifts, placing odds on Angela’s ability to pull the trigger at only 7%. She looks up at it and her face contorts with rage.
“Damn you people!” she cries out. “You don’t even know what’s good for you! All you care about are these bloody battles and petty matches. You’ve seen what this place can be like during an amnesty. If we lived in harmony—!”
The ground explodes beneath her feet, stealing her voice.
Kurgan uses a Backup Core!
Kurgan is fully restored!
The blast sends Angela flying thirty feet as Kurgan’s body reforms in a swirl of brilliant white light. He levitates in the air a few seconds, regaining his full HP before his feet touch the arena floor again. The crowd is stunned into silence once more, but then they begin to cheer, shouting for a rematch.
“Kill her, Kurgan!”
“Show that low-cast wench her place!”
“Weak lower-house slag!”
“Go back to the slums!”
The shouts of ridicule continue as Kurgan slowly fixes his gaze on Queen Angela.
“Nice one…” Kurgan says calmly, adjusting the gold bracers on his wrists as his right eye lights up with his HUD. “…a 50k combo; blowing your 24-hour android special and stacking it with Penetrating Shot to do two Aerial Barrages in one hit. And since when did you get an Aerial Cannon in the first place? And a HQ one too? I’m jealous.”
Angela gets back to her feet. “I’ll do it again, Kurgan! I mean it. Submit to me or you’ll lose everything for good.”
Kurgan smirks. “Without your 24-hour to double-tap me again? I don’t think so.” He smirks up at the leader board. “Looks like they don’t think so either.”
His words cause another bout of laughter to ripple through the crowd.
Kurgan chuckles with them. “Problem with you, Angela, is no one believes you’re a real killer. I bet not even you. Hell, even killing me was nothing but a show. You knew full well I had a core.”
Angela’s throat flexes in a swallow. “That still won’t stop me from doing it again.”
“You won’t have to…” Kurgan raises his handgun to the sky and thin blue beams of light form at everyone’s feet within the arena. “...because I will.”
My heart races. Oh my God…
Angela looks more shocked than anyone. “H-how?”
“I soloed the Gun Queen a long time ago. I could have done what you just tried a long time ago too—seized power from these bickering fools.” He then grins. “Except I don’t want any of it. But I’m going to teach you a lesson for making me waste my core.”
“Lord Kurgan,” Deathlock says, raising his hands in surrender. “We got no beef with you, man. Just let us go!”
“Yes, please!” LeChat says. “We don’t have anything to do with her! We’re on your si—”
“Shut up!” Kurgan barks. “I’m going to show all you royal pricks the real difference between me and you. Between those who can and can’t.” He then looks to Rembrandt. “Even if it’ll mean getting my revenge is just one shot.”
Angela’s eyes go wide. “Kurgan, don’t…”
The Ronin laughs. “You’ve shown your hand, Angela. Unfortunately for everyone here, I’m not afraid to pull the trigger, like you.”
Kurgan uses Aerial Barrage!
“No!” Angela cries as the shot goes off, the ground boiling her feet. She then lunges at Rembrandt just as the ground explodes beneath him.
Angela Rescues Rembrandt!
Angela takes 12000(15000) plasma damage!
Angela takes 12000(15000) plasma damage!
Kurgan defeats Angela!
Angela takes the blast meant for her as well as Rembrandt, collapsing into a flaming heap of scrap as her huge HP pool is reduced to zero. Columns of white-hot lasers strike everyone else in the ring simultaneously, filling my HUD with the names of the victims.
Kurgan defeats Vivika!
Kurgan defeats LeChat!
Kurgan defeats Luther!
Kurgan defeats De-Synch!
Kurgan defeats Deathlock!
Kurgan then follows up his aerial attack with rapid bursts from his pistol, hitting each of the fallen kings with headshots!
==True Kill Alert!==
== Vivika’s body crashes into the dust! Slain by Kurgan!==
==True Kill Alert!==
== LeChat’s body crashes into the dust! Slain by Kurgan!==
==True Kill Alert!==
== Luther’s body crashes into the dust! Slain by Kurgan!==
==True Kill Alert!==
== De-Synch’s body crashes into the dust! Slain by Kurgan!==
==True Kill Alert!==
== Deathlock’s body crashes into the dust! Slain by Kurgan!==
Dear God…
The Ronin then grins at Rembrandt as he hauls himself off the ground.
“Very nice,” Kurgan says. “The Great Ones have smiled on me. I get to have my true revenge on you after all.” He then lowers his pistol to Angela’s head. “But I think I’ll upgrade my aerial cannon first. Plus, this should make a nice flashback for you, eh Rembrandt? Wasn’t this how they killed your girl?”
Rembrandt lowers his mirror shades, his eyes widening as if reliving the memory of seeing Vanessa executed all over again. Then his brows shift into a scowl as his face contorts with rage.
“You stay away from her, you bastard!”
Rembrandt opens fire on Kurgan with a Paralyzing Shot, but the android nullifies it easily with a CC breaker.
Kurgan uses Shrug it Off!
Kurgan is no longer Paralyzed!
He laughs as he re-aims for Angela’s head, ready to pull the trigger. “Say goodbye to her a second time, Rembrandt…”
Screw this!
I jump from the bullpen with Sprint and blast into the ring with a Charge Strike. Wind presses back my hair as I fly to target and nail Kurgan in his side with my kunai.
You hit Kurgan for 247(445) damage!
Kurgan is stunned!
“You…!” Kurgan glowers at me, annoyed, before breaking free with bolts of electricity flashing across his body.
Kurgan uses Burst!
Kurgan is no longer Stunned!
He suddenly falls to the ground, landing on his back as Maxis appears next to me and sweeps his legs with a knockdown.
Maxis uses Leg Sweep!
Maxis hits Kurgan for 223(443) damage!
> Kurgan is prone!
The rest of my friends jump into the ring: Gilly and Becky, Aiko and Val. The crowd dissolves into chaos once again as all hell breaks loose and the leader board goes wild with new odds.
Gilly buffs us as we all party up and get ready to take on the fight. But what the heck are we even doing? We weren’t able to beat Kurgan before, and I’m not sure what our chances are now, but we can’t back down.
Not with Rembrandt and Angela’s lives on the line.
Kurgan launches back into the air with a spinning kick, knocking us all back with an AOE.
Kurgan uses Helicopter Kick!
You take 534 damage!
I steady myself as I slide to a halt and cast Shadow Copy and Shadow Haste while Gilly tops us back up with a Great Heal. Kurgan lands on his feet and a hiss of steam permeates the air as he blows off heat from the vents on his back.
There’s only one way to win this.
“Get Angela back up somehow!” I say through the party chat. “She can take him down with the cannon. We just need to stall him until then!”
“Got it,” Val Helena says, buffing herself with a burst of blue polygons.
“Watch your CCs!” Maxis flexes, switching to a new stance I haven’t seen before.
Maxis uses Fists of Hail!
Attack Speed and Critical Attack Chance massively increased!
Defense and HP moderately decreased!
“We’ve got to keep him locked down like before,” Maxis says. “If he uses that cannon on us, we’re done.”
“Not with two dodge tanks and two healers,” Aiko says, stepping to my side. “Same weapon, same strat. We fight him like the Gun Queen.”
I didn’t think of it like that, but I suppose she’s right—this is like the Gun Queen battle all over again.
“We can do it, guys!” Gilly says, lifting her spellbow as she buffs us with a Regen. “Just stay focused!”
