The Alarm Clock at the End of the World

Part 88

The Climax, Part 1

I whip my gun out of my jacket and take aim at Armitage.

I doubt I’ll fare better than Mephis Tyr if Armitage gets his hand on me. His eyes are hollow and dead, his lips slightly slack in disappointment. I sidestep and dodge, but his head twists and he never loses direct contact like a stalking cat.

"Paled! Puuuuuuurpaaaaaaal!" Solomon sings.

"No!" Nepotism screams over Aiden Quartermass's head. "Leave it to me!"

"I who am all pleasure and purple," Solomon sings.

Nepotism somersaults over Armitage, lands running, and in a moment is at my side, pushing me back and slashing down with his broadsword.

The realization of a sacrifice has driven the audience into wanton bloodlust, and they could storm the stage at any moment.

Nepotism gets between myself and Armitage a moment before the Scrubber burns me to ash. Putting an open hand in Armitage’s face, Nepotism shouted “HOU!” loud enough for me to hear over the chorus of the song.

A gout of flame erupts from Nepotism’s fingers over the Scrubber’s face, driving the monster back. A squeal like nothing on Earth could duplicate emanates from the flailing body. Armitage falls off the platform and sluices through the grate like liquid.

"PALED! Puuuurple!"

"Go on!" Nepotism barks, pushing me to the unstable middle, where Kara dangles above me. Nepotism spins and finds himself with his sword pointed down the aluminum rail to the next Sephiroth, where Solomon is still smiling and singing.  

"I! Love! Yoooooou!" Solomon stares Nepotism down. The crowd is loving this, lost in bloodlust and frenzy. This could erupt badly.

Solomon looks up, holding his hand above his head. Aimed perfectly in its drop, a naked blade falls grip-first from the catwalks above into Joshua Solomon's fingers. The audience wails. Nepotism charges undeterred.

"I! Love! Yooooou!"

Nepotism Baldwin and Joshua Solomon clash swords once high, two low, and cross hilts between their faces while Solomon fails to miss even a single word. "Serpent flame therein thou shalt come a little to lie in my bosom.”

I've got to get Kara down and out of here before Solomon makes short work of Nepotism. How do I even get her close enough to do anything though, let alone cut her loose from the Ankh. Nepotism and Solomon continue fighting. Sparks rain from their blades. The crowd goes wild with each strike. Solomon doesn't even pause his song. "I who am all pleasure and purple, and drunkenness of the innermost sense desire you!" Nepotism and Solomon both working hard and sweating, bleeding from tiny knicks and cuts. "Paled! Puuuuuurple!"