Airship Mauled

by Darkonshadows


Chapter Sixty Eight, Pharaoh Emerald, of cake: Cream.

-Present day, Airship Mauled, Maries-

“Wait a moment… why is there a top hat on my image?” As the snake headed member of our body, I can’t help but think that Jade put a top hat on my image for a reason. The other images looked normal by comparison to the oddity of Marie wearing a top hat. “Why would a snake wear a top hat Jade?”

“Not important, back to the story!” Did Jade just seriously dodge Marie’s question, we are so not forgetting this. Now we absolutely needed to know what a snake with a top hat represented!

We would hound Jade mercilessly… after her story was done of course because we needed to know what our beloved planning cat of pettiness got up to in the annals of history.

-Ancient Anugypt, collapsed city, throne room hallway, Jade-

Life came at me fast and hard, my death was also going to come at me the same way if I couldn’t avoid Anubis’s body doing a sudden lunge. Anubis was without a doubt, a lightning bruiser… there was no glass in that cannon as he swung his full length royal crook for me.

I leapt up and the crook was already coming at me with a back swing. I jumped a second time going into a mid-air cartwheel that surprised Anubis, he probably didn’t know the only reason how I could even pull off the Gazer Spiral in the first place.

Rolling as I finished my mid-air cartwheel I narrowly avoided getting hooked by the two handed crook, only to have it shoved into my chest where it began pressing me into the pillar. He forced it upwards towards my neck and now my hands were gripping the hook of the crook to prevent it from being pushed into my throat too roughly.

I’ll give it to the parasite, he was quite fast with Anubis’s reflexes. I tried to push back and he forced me against the pillar all that much harder trying to cut off my ability to breathe. Luckily I had an ace in the hole for how to get out of this situation, but I was currently busy trying to figure out a counter attack.

I eyed Sandy and shook my head no, she backed off from attacking Anubis from behind, what could I used and what did I have on me? Well for one, I could use the crook… yeah… that should do it!

“You’re going to lose…” Despite growling this he didn’t seem phased by my attempt to push the crook away from my throat.

“Let’s agree to dis…” Anubis started to say when his crook disappeared out of his hand, turned into energy held in my hands and then reformed within a second.

Magical alchemy made me the worst enemy of someone who relied entirely on weapons, provided that I could grab or touch them. Anubis didn’t need a weapon, but while he was distracted by the loss of his I took it upon myself to strike him upside the head with his crook.

I spun around smash the crook into the side of his head and nemes, the hook of the crook snapped apart upon impact. I released the broken shaft of the crook and kicked away while giving Sandy a glance, motioning to it, the spear, the elite jackals and the unicorns with my eyes and glancing towards the entrance.

At best I had staggered Anubis, but I didn’t hurt him as I broke his own weapon against his skull.

Sandy looked about and nodded as she put her baton away and picked up one of the spears and started to gather the others. She then grabbed one of the jackals and started to drag them outside.

I quickly picked up and held the remaining hook portion of the weapon and waited for Anubis to come at me, he seemed a little bit warier than before after I stole the royal crook out of his hands.

“Well I agree wholeheartedly!” I said haughtily, but then leapt to the side as he lunged forward and launched a punch for my face. I landed on three limbs and could throw away the crook to go completely into all fours movement at a moment’s notice.

He missed me, but he blew a hole out of the pillar that had been behind me with raw strength. Did I mention this guy was strong? Yeah, that didn’t even make him flinch or hurt his fist at all. Intimidation was achieved by him and I wasn’t about to let myself get hit by that if I could help it.

“What’s the matter big guy, can’t keep up with the little kitty?” Anugyptian felines were tiny compared to him. I was trying to goad him into keeping his attention on me and not on Sandy. I wanted her to get in a few hits on this parasite, it was basically the same kind of nightmare that took Luna a few hundred thousand years or so from now.

I would ask him to pick on someone his own size… only there was no one around that fit that description or even had the muscles for it. Aside from Sandy I was probably the only one around willing to put myself in the way of such a monster and make that struggle for a better tomorrow.

Speaking of monsters, he charged me and continued to ignore my companion moving the jackals and unicorns away from the fight. I had to keep Anubis’s attention squarely me so he doesn’t take any hostages or notice he was losing those that could be his.

He threw his left fist at me and I hooked his wrist and used his own forward momentum against him to pull him face first to the ground. He reached up and grabbed the crook. I quickly abandoned it and scampered away on all fours around the third pillar on the right entering and turned to watch him as he tossed it off to the side.

I did not want to be in a direct confrontation with the immovable mountain, but I don’t think I could avoid it in this situation. Kick and punch him all I want, I wasn’t going to injure him or knock him down unless I was launched out of a ballista at him and that’d likely break a few of my bones. Not doing something like that when the medical practices were sketchy in this era.

Eight pillars lined this hall, I had been pressed up against the second one on the right and I was now behind the third as he came around the third pillar and lunged for me. I shot forward underneath him and he stopped and turned around almost immediately to almost grab my tail.

I was on edge at the speed that much mass could move at, he was almost on top of me a second later the claws of his digits flashing toward my head with his mouth roaring and wide open. Not being able to help myself, I fired two bursts of water from my ears towards his mouth and blinded him slightly with water in the eyes.

He coughed and sputtered as I moved towards the fourth pillar on the left and he must have seen my tail round the pillar because I heard him coming my way. At least I still had his attention, didn’t want him to pay attention to what Sandy was doing or why she wasn’t helping me at the moment.

I leapt up and jumped a second time before latching onto the pillar with all I was worth, I waited for Anubis to make his next move as he rounded the pillar looking about. I saw Sandy duck behind the entrance having dragged a unicorn out with her.

“Hey, looking for something?!” He looked up at me and attacked the pillar with both his fists, it started to crumble out from beneath me.

I quickly leapt from that pillar towards the third pillar on the left and, after jumping off the air again, clung to it even higher up.

Anubis’s right arm started to glow with magic that shared a similar green fog color of the parasite permeating his form, now he was going to try and yep… he just fire a wad of sickly looking magical energy at me.

I slid down the pillar to the floor as the magic splashed against the pillar and ate through it entirely like acid. Turning around and leaning against the pillar trying to look entirely calm, I idly checked my claws as if I wasn’t terrified of being struck by something that caustic.

“So… magic now? Seems a bit unfair, but I guess I did fire some earwax down your throat. Ugh climbing these pillars is really rough on my…” I rolled to the right underneath a glowing left fist as it ripped through more than half of the pillar without pausing. “Claws. Frankly I probably shouldn’t be climbing on them to avoid…”

He slammed both his fists down, sending out a shockwave of magical energy that ate through a portion of the third pillar a little more and smile. I jumped into the air towards it trying to go over him and he reached up to grab me, I kicked off the air to get even higher above his reach.

My feet made contact with the damaged pillar, which I proceeded to kick off of. I leapt even higher as Anubis jumped and tried to swipe me out of the air with a magical death on his head.”

“You. Sorry I have to ask this, but…” He tried to kick me in the chest I weaved around his leg and nearly got backhanded, I ducked under that and avoided his right fist slamming through the stone flooring in front of me. “Do you realize how terrifying you are with that parasite controlling you Anubis?”

The parasite had good control of his body. Were I not as agile as I was, he would have killed me three times already.

“Stop talking and…” I sidestepped to right a little and the damaged pillar smashed down on his head and broke in half. Anubis despite being struck roughly by a few hundred pounds worth of stone, stayed standing. At most he looked a little dazed and as I back away from him towards the pillars on the right side of the hall, I saw that Sandy was almost done getting the unicorns out of the way.

“Get hit by a large pillar?” I asked while quirking an eye at him, he suddenly moved and I was unprepared for how fast he clamped his left hand on my right wrist. Oh no…

He swung me around, I felt a horrible pain throughout my shoulder and he sent me flying towards the hallways right wall between the second and third pillar.

Oh yeah, this was exceedingly painful and I think he just ripped my right arm out of the socket by bodily pulling me off the ground, he did that one handed no less.

“Do you think you’re tough, do you seriously think you can free Anubis when you’re a pathetic weakling?” He cackled, sadistic glee does not work on Anubis’s face.

“Well…” I couldn’t move my right arm and gripped it with my left hand, with an upwards jerk I forced my right arm back into the socket with a sickening squelching noise. My eyes filled with tears, yet I managed to stay on my feet despite taking a wall to the spine. “I’m tougher than you’d think… I will survive today, then see tomorrow with a smile.”

“Your optimism can only do so much.” He came at me fast and I decided to get in low blow, I crouched under his arms attempt to get me into a bear hug and launched my left foot upwards as hard as I could.

Anubis staggered back and didn’t look to be in too much pain. Seriously, what are the jackals of this era made of when they have thick stones like that? I tried to scamper away on all fours after rolling over to my right, only he grabbed my back right leg and started to drag me back and lift me off the floor.

A thrown bladed spear sank into his left arm and he howled in pain, dropping me. He ripped the spear out and incinerated it with magic and then sent a blast towards the entrance as I tried to get away.

I moved towards his throne, he’d either go after me or Sandy. If he went after Sandy, then that would give me an opening to pull one of two aces out. If he went after me, I was screwed.

I heard his thunderous feet coming up on me and I darted left and right, the parasite chose me as the bigger threat. I would feel more flattered if it wasn’t true, Sandy didn’t exactly have the magic that I do at my disposal.

Pulling out the spear blade, it resembled a knife so I had hoped what I was about to do would work, I cast it and sent it straight at Anubis.

Despite his back exploding a shower of blood, apparently the spears blade counting enough to be the approximation of knife cast, he barreled through that pain and continued to come at me.

He quickly snapped his right hand around my neck and slammed me into the back right wall of hallway. Grinning sadistically as he pressed me against the wall, I tried to get his hand off of my neck.

“So… any last words.” A magical glow started crawling up his arm, but it seemed to be resisting somewhat as it was slowly trying to move backwards.

It seems Anubis was resisting his parasite to save my life, I silently prated and thanked this parasite bound god for that. My prayer probably had an effect considering the magic slid back down the forearm and to the shoulder.

“No matter, if I can’t kill her with magic…” He didn’t finish his statement as he tightened the grip on my neck. “I’ll just kill her with your strength. Any last words before I crush your throat?”

My vision was going black and there was one thing the parasite didn’t know about me.

“I’m… firing…” I tend to fight dirty. My choked out words were followed by a slight inhale after I said the next word. “My…”

I then spat a magic missile from my mouth right into poor Anubis’s right eye, he screamed in agony and stumbled away clutching at his head. This left me gasping for air on the ground, Sandy came over to my side and I looked up to her.

“Are you okay?” Sandy asked me worriedly and I fend off her prodding. “I need to bring you to safety while he’s distracted.”

“No! Help me get something out of my pack, my right arm isn't working too well!” I unslung my pack and she helped me pull out the most glorious thing ever devised by me.

“Thanks, now take cover behind a pillar.” This was the thing that would weaken both Anubis and help with his parasite problem. A full sized ancient anugyptian sun baked cake, with sugar cane icing. I press my hand firmly into the cake and cast the whole shebang.

My left claw, holding roiling hardly contained energy, I charged straight at Anubis with it.

My whole world was encompassed by suffering.