Twenty-two stories above a field of bone, I looked down upon a 108 meter tall monster attempting to claw its way out of the pit we'd driven back into. On the East side of the stadium, Marth continued to lob missiles of hellfire in an ineffectual rage at the beast. Toward the south, Karma had already ran down the length and breadth of the stadium to Luna. My heart's desire looked after an exhausted Kazuna who lay catatonic upon the white powder remains of those executed long before our arrival. With Midnight injured, crippled, and exposed on the front lines, it all came down to Karma's speed to communicate and coordinate our next and possibly last offensive.

First, the ninja assassin would deliver my order to switch out Luna from defense to offense. Apparently, dropping four mammoth television screens on top of the Grand Judicator's head wasn't nearly enough to subdue it. We'd need the whole ceiling to come down. The fastest way to collapse an entire stadium roof? First step, increase the density of the water held in its sprinkler systems until it freezes over. Despite turning into a solid block of ice, it wouldn't necessarily make the ceiling heavier. Manipulating a frozen mass of pipes connected to the ceilings super structure would give Luna a better grasp on her target. At least it should.

There's also a chance the strain of ripping out a metal system of veins from a concrete slab could kill her. Of course, not trying at all would mean we'd all die. Especially with Marth taunting the creature with blind fury. Still screaming and spewing fire, even from up above on the catwalk, I could see the Shogun appear to be losing control. Karma would run to Marth next. Talk him down from whatever ledge he was standing on.

Whatever abyss the former Samurai had gazed into that convinced him to summon the Obsidian Angel, had left lasting damage on the man's mind. This was more than bravado and grandeur. Marth had succumbed to madness. His red aura continued to expand. The bleachers around him bursting into flames. Heat waves radiated up the glass partition between the stands and the field like a waterfall flowing in reverse.

Still struggling to lift itself out of the pit below the field, the Grand Judicator wailed and roared as its claws sank into the melting glass wall. From my position directly above the beast, I now had a greater look at its backside. I followed the trail of smaller horns that stemmed from out its head down the creature's back. Heavy plated pachyderm like armor covered every square inch of its body. Rather, it almost covered every inch of its body.

Just below where its neck and the back of the Judicator's shoulders met, two plates had shifted apart whenever its head tilted down. Between the plates, thick violet tar seeped out. Not a complete failure after all, several glass and metal shards from the giant televisions had in fact pierced the presumably indestructible hide of the Judicator.

I glanced at my arm. Rather, I cringed as I inspected the inhuman metal construct protruding from my arm. I felt nothing. Externally. This was a feature of my body now, not a flaw. The grotesque melding of flesh and metal however weaved an internal pain that would have broken a lesser man. Even a man made of metal, I couldn't afford to be anything less than what Luna needed at this moment. At this exact moment, I needed to decapitate a monster.

Above me, the fire suppression pipes woven throughout the ceiling began to rattle. It was subtle at first. Then, bolts, clasps, and whole pipes began to burst apart as icicles spiked their way out from the black steel. Ice continued to grow and pierce itself into the concrete like a wild patch of razor sharp brambles. That was my cue to act.

Taking one last dizzying look twenty-two stories down including what looks like another ten stories to the basement floor, I see one thing softening my landing in between. The Grand Judicator, still focused on Marth, continues to grib at the molten floor of the stadium. Marth's hellfire continued to burn unchecked, gradually engulfing the rest of the field. It was a suitable deterrent for now, but rapidly turning into another obstacle we'd have to hurdle over: Midnight was still lying unconscious in center field.

With her left wing nearly torn off, the young dragoness was losing a significant amount of blood. More than that, the ever expanding circle of liquid hellfire was now merely ten meters from where she lie, knocked out cold. The field continued to melt and drip into the pit below, while the Grand Judicator persisted in climbing out of it's trap. Above me, the veins of the fire suppression system rattled harder. Ice jutting out violently into the ceiling.

Nowhere was safe.

The only way out was down.

I considered a fall from four meters would have killed me just easily as one hundred. At least it would have killed me had I been merely flesh and blood. Without further hesitation, I vaulted myself over the catwalk. My descent was shorter than expected. As impressive as this space was, the Grand Judicator was barely continued within the building. I landed hard on its back. Harder than expected. My left hand was pierced by one of the smaller horns on its back. Once again my interal systems registered pain, and willed myself to ignore it.

While attempting to stand upright on the writhing beasts back, pyrotechnic flares continued to shoot up on either sides of its flank. Marth was still wildly antagonising the Judicator as it screamed in anger. About forty meters away from me, I had a clear view of Marth laughing and rambling incoherently. I did not however see Karma. He should have been able to reach Marth by now. We couldn't afford for anything else to go wrong. In vein, I attempted to communicate the plan to Marth...

Shouting over the deafening roars of the Judicator, I projected my voice at Marth; "We have to focus fire on its neck! Marth! MARTH! AIM FOR THE NECK!"

Bad news was, even from this distance, Marth didn't look like he was in a space to take in new information. In fact, he didn't look like himself at all. His facial features had blackened. Not darkened from a tan, but as if he himself had also been consumed by fire. On the brighter side had Marth actually heard my shouts, there's a chance he would have reigned fire down on me before I'd had a chance to escape.

Time was running out. Had to act faster. I had to climb my way up to the gash in the Judicators body amor. It was a wild ride just progressing the few meter's up its back. I was lucky that Marth's attacks kept it distracted. At any moment, those two back arms could have easily scratched its back and tossed me into a stain on the wall or swallowed me whole. Shut up, Gene! I can't afford to think about the worst case scenarios.

Had to focus.

Had to climb.

As my hand reached out for another horn to steady my balance, my foot touched down into something significantly less hard. I looked down into the raw flesh and massive shards of metal and glass that protruded out from the Judicator chink in her armor. Small by comparison to the beast as a whole, the gash was actually about three by five meters wide. At point blank range, the target would be difficult to miss. I focused my mind, looking at the display cast upon my mind's eye.

Target locked:/ Grand Judicator - Property of: BiFrost Bio-Organic Weapon

Munitions recommendation:/ "Concussion OverClock" _Switch? y/n

I didn't immediately understand the readout, but part of me did. Those RAN Sentries had packed a powerful punch, but their initial blasts wouldn't penetrate the hull of Heimdall Station. Whatever it meant to activate 'Concussion OverClock', I'd have to risk it if any of us stood a chance to survive. Above me, small chunks of the concrete ceiling had already begun to crumble and fall. I couldn't see Luna, Midnight, Kazuna, or Karma from where I stood. It was just the Judicator, myself, and manic Marth casting an obscene amount of fire.

Now or never.

I took the shot.

Activating the 'OverClock' function from my mind's eye, more mechanical components began to shift and dislodge from the remaining flesh on my right arm. The mutilation was horrifying, but there was no running from it. I could feel energy surging from within the cannon. Several flat panels and what appeared to be intake valves shifted along my forearm, and locked into place. They were gathering in ambient radiation, sucking in materials invisible to the naked eye, but meticulously calculated by my internal systems. As the energy intake grew, the barrel on my arm cannon expanded, I had to hold my right arm with my left as the canon vibrated faster and faster...

Suddenly there was an intense flash of light. Blinding. A high pitched sonic boom followed by a percussive explosion. I felt the sticky, wet and warm shower of blood drench me as the Judicator let out a painfail wail. When I finally regained my sense of sight, I looked down as the gash on it's neck had blossomed outward. What was once a significant slice in the beast's neck, looked more like a miniature canyon of seared tissue, broken fountains of blood, and mutilated muscles. Then I suddenly found myself flying through the air.

Suddenly aware of my presence, the Grand Judicator had thrown it's back to shake the flear that bit a two meter hole through it's flesh. As I began to descend back toward the Judicators armored body, my hand canon began to rapidly shift back into human form. Clear exhaust fumes escaped from slits along my forearm as an error message flashed across my mind's eye...

"WARNING:/ Right Cannon Spent - RechargeTime = 5 min."

I felt the impact against the skin of the plated armor of the Judicator. It was like landing on a stack of sandpaper two meter's thick. This time however, the beast wasn't going to stand for some flea to roam around it's back. I looked up in time to see the massive clawed hand of the Judicator swiped down. I rolled out of it's path just in time. Scrambling to my feet, it's second hand landed, missing me by hair's width. As I continued to run up it's back, the creature swayed side to side, trying to shake me. The talons of its shoulder mounted arms furiously beat at it's spine, chasing after me. I'd almost reached the head adorned in massive horns, when the Judicator suddenly shifted it's entire mass towards the glass wall of the eastern bleachers.

My hands desperately clung to the closest spike on the Judicators back as it slammed it's back against the thick glass wall. I could feel the heat radiating off the mostly melted barrier. I could hear Marth's laughter. This was my one chance to dismount this beast. I looked across from me, but it was too late, the Judicator had already swayed back, ready to slam himself into the glass once more. If I could time it right, let the momentum carry me.

A loud crack, like thunder, split the air. Above me, I glanced up just in time to see the ceiling split in two, in thirds, and rapidly a spider web of fissures within the concrete infested with blades of ice and steel. Luna was still alive, manipulating the water, ice, and soon the entire roof to bring it all crashing down. I felt the sudden shift in G-Force as the Judicator continued to rid itself of the infestation upon it's back. The furious momentum held me in place against its rough hide as it sung back against the melting glass.

Readying myself, I braced my right hand up in front of my face, while the left held onto the small horn beside me. Impact in 3... 2... 1...

Using the momentum and sudden slam against the glass, I pushed off from the Judicator with my feet. Both my hands covering my head and face as I rocketed through the melting glass wall like a bullet. Dozens of error messages rapidly flashed across my mind's eye as I crashed into a row of bleachers...

"Warning:/ glass foreign bodies and debris detected!"

"Warning:/ significant tears in epidermal shielding!"

"Warning:/ shatters detected in ribs, left forearm, bruising in vital organs...!"

Ignoring the pain, the warnings, the internal alarms, my ears heard a somewhat familiar voice, "Friend, Gene. How glorious is our final battle, is it not?"

I looked up toward the voice, the nanoserves in my neck screaming in agony. Surrounded in a pulsating crimson glow was Marth. His face was more grotesque than I'd imagined. His flesh appeared charred as if he'd stuck his head in an oven or dipped it in a lake of fire. Exposed blackened bone could be seen where parts of his skin had simply flaked away or melted off. Judging by his smile, it didn't seem to affect him any.

Desperately trying to gather my faculties, I coughed out, "Neck. The neck!"

Marth paused his maniacal laughter to raise an eyebrow, "Save your words, Gene. There is a monster to be slain!"

I tried to use a nearby bleacher seat to stand to my feet, but there was so much heat and radiation cascading off Marth, that the plastic back of the chair melted in my hand as I pushed down. My internal systems were also pleading with me to leave before I became a boiling pile of flesh and mechanical parts too.

Swiftly, against the pain, I stood. Every step I took up the bleachers felt like knives piercing me from every angle. Cupping my hand over my mouth I shouted at a wildly out of control Marth, "Demon Lord, Yagami, aim for the Judicator's neck! One more blow, and it should--"

Marth turned to me, his teeth bared and shouted over me, "Your attack was weak, Gene. It failed. In this world and every other, only the strongest are worthy. You wanted this beast to go back into the ground? Then that's where I shall send it; BACK TO THE HELL FROM WHENCE IT CAME!"

Turning his attention back towards the Judicator still writhing and yowling in pain, Marth lifted his arms up to the ceiling. The roof, I'd noticed, which was also rapidly deteriorating. Large slabs of concrete, steel scaffolding, and sheets of ice plummeted on top of the Judicator pounding on death's door. Within my mind's eye, I witnessed the external temperature spike. I didn't need a computer display to tell me the obvious. Pillars of flame erupted around Marth in a circle.

There was nothing left I could do. I had to run. There were still four members of my team unaccounted for. There was one that meant everything to me. If anything should happen to Luna... No! That was out of my control. What I could control was my part of the covenant. I wasn't allowed to die until she gave me permission to do so. With the sliver of hope that I could survive, my team could live, I bounded up the stairs as fast as my legs would permit.

Ten more steps, and I reached a plateau. A few meters to my left, and a marked exit offered a slightly increased possibility of escape. My legs pounded along the concrete. My ears rang, assaulted by the bombardment of physical destruction and unholy screams released by the Grand Judicator. The entire stadium shook. The earth shook. At any moment everything felt like it would simply cease to be.

Before sprinting out of the exit, I dared to take one final look back at the field of bone dust. It was a truly terrifying sight. Floating up in the air a meter above the thoroughly melted stadium seating, Marth cackled. I hadn't noticed it before, but his ring of fire hadn't simply been burning uncontrollably. In addition to the field, that molten liquid was eating away at the foundation BELOW the stadium. While the Judicator made one last attempt to claw its way out of the pit, the combination of concrete slamming down into it's exposed and mangled neck and a sudden pit opening up to a possibly bottomless pit below finished it off.

The ancient beast was gone.

This stadium too however, would crumble at a moment's notice as everything else continued to shake and deteriorate. I ran. I didn't look back. I kept my eyes and mind ahead on the possibility that my team escaped. I couldn't afford to think about the end. Death couldn't claim me yet.

I had a promise to keep.

Running down ten flights of stairs I used the last of my strength to kick a steel door off its hinges. I limped as far away from the collapsing stadium as I could before I simply collapsed onto the dirt. The rumbling of concrete, steel, and glass gradually subsided. Clouds of dust settled, expanding outward. There was a moment's silence, before another sound rose above the fleeting peace. Crackling, popping, controlled bursts of explosions arose from behind me. I couldn't stand. There were too many internal alarms to ignore now; like a swarm of angry and concerned bees that it's hive had just fallen and broken.

"That was a glorious fight. Soon, my honor shall be restored!" screamed Marth as he casually strood out from a flaming tunnel he'd made to emerge from the rubble. His boots crunched over the debris and pounded upon the dirt as he came closer, "Gene. I'm pleased you've survived that marvelous encounter. Now, we shall finish our fight..."

I gazed upwards at the hulking Samurai as his deranged smile shot down upon me. I couldn't read his intentions. His flesh still charged, clothes caked in dust, and radiating steam. I could barely see a remnant of the Marth I'd met before. What stood over me now had only one lingering thought etched into his eyes: death.