Chapter 79

18 “It appears you’re not so quick on your feet anymore.” Apollo leered. A pair of bright-red eyes still shone from out of his pitch-black form. “How long have you trained your techniques? How many years? A pointless endeavor, when I can use the power of civilization to replicate the fruits of your efforts with but a snap of my fingers.” Bisco opened his mouth to retort, but only his golden blood came out, containing an assortment of jet-black nuts and bolts. Bisco was about 60 percent city now, and Apollo’s continued assault had finally outstripped the regenerative power of the Rust-Eater. The sun’s light inside him was fading. A little longer, and Bisco would die. “Now, cease dodging my arrows. You’re only prolonging your own suffering,” said Apollo. “Ha! How ’bout you start dodging some of mine? You’ve just been lettin’ ’em all hit you!” “Because it is of no consequence either way. I have conquered your spores. They pose no threat to me.” “Then quit chattin’ about it and kill me already! If you’re that desperate for someone to talk to, why don’t you grow yourself a maid café?!” “Such insolence…!” Bisco’s jokes showed that he felt no fear of his imminent death. His eyes still sparkled jade-green, burning with life. “Euuuuh. Euuuh. Euuuuhh.” “Delete him. Delete Bisco. Delete him.” The fear and hatred oozing from the year 2028 made it impossible for Apollo to focus on anything other than the man before him, whom he’d been ordered to kill. Dammit! I need to check the server…! Even Bisco could see the chaos whirling in Apollo’s mind as he fought against the vengeful spirits of the past for control. Bisco whipped out a Rust-Eater arrow from his quiver, but instead of nocking it to his bow… Splat! …he plunged the tip deeply into his own heart. “…?! Wh-what? What are you doing?!” “Woooooaaaaaarrrgh!” Before Apollo’s stunned eyes, golden Rust-Eater mushrooms sprang to life all over Bisco’s body, breaking off the urbanization that covered his skin. This was Bisco’s final gambit: to offer his own life as food for the Rust-Eater. Just four more seconds… Three… “Not so fast!” Apollo realized what Bisco was doing and leveled his greatbow. The spirits of the damned washed over its surface, turning it an abyssal, all-consuming black. It creaked as he tugged the bowstring tight, lifting it as Bisco jumped up to fire a killing shot. Two… One…! “Now die, Bisco!” “Take thiiis!” Fwmp! Pchoo! The two released their arrows at precisely the same moment, producing a tremendous roar that cut through the very air itself. The blazing arrows were little more than streaks, orange and ebony, that ran from one to the other, and back again. “Im…pressive…” Gaboom! Gaboom! A pair of glorious Rust-Eaters erupted from Apollo’s back, in proud defiance of his supposed immunity. And that wasn’t all: Outside the transparent sphere, in the city of Tokyo below, another pair of mushrooms rose out of the ground at the same time, as if synced to him. More Rust-Eaters burst from Apollo’s body, and whenever one did, its twin lit up the night sky of Tokyo. Apollo glared with scarlet eyes and dropped his midnight bow. “An impressive specimen of humanity you are, Bisco. Had my plan been just three years delayed…” Rust-Eaters continued to spring forth from Apollo’s body, one after the other… …but then they stopped. “…then I might have lost.” Kroom! All of a sudden, an enormous office block tore its way out of Bisco’s back. Kroom! Kroom! Kroom! Kroom! Another, and another, flinging him in all directions. Just as he tried to string another arrow—Kroom!—an office block ripped through his wrist, causing him to drop it. He collapsed to the floor in a heap, just barely managing to breathe through the blood spilling from his lungs. “…” Apollo grimaced as he plucked one of the Rust-Eaters out of his body and walked over to Bisco. He looked down at the buildings ravaging his foe, gorging themselves on his unimaginable life force. “…You’re suffering, Bisco. It’s okay. You don’t need to stand any longer.” Bisco’s eyes glowed jade-green as always, but he no longer had the strength to focus them. Yet on his face was a look of pure serenity, as if he were thinking of something very precious indeed. “ ” He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came. He raised himself up on one knee, and blood spilled out of the hole in his chest. Still, he reached out his hands and dug his nails into the floor. “ ” His voice stolen by the buildings colonizing his windpipe, Bisco was unable to say a word. Apollo put aside the recurring sense of emptiness he felt and raised his glowing blue arm in preparation. “Farewell…Bisco Akaboshi.” But just as he was about to fire… “Stoppp!” Bwoom! “…?! Uargh!” …a blast of pink energy slammed into his back. Apollo wheeled around, sending his assailant flying with a kick. “Gyaagh!” There was a flurry of pink braids, and the attacker lay fallen on the ground. As she lifted herself off the floor, there in her hands was Apollo’s arm, the one Milo had broken off with his mantra bell. It was surrounded in particles that glowed with a soft pink light. “The remnants of Hope’s possession, I suppose,” mused Apollo. “Tell me, why didn’t you remain hidden? You were doing a good job ensuring I would ignore you until now.” “Heh. You got a point there. Maybe I should’ve.” Tirol was sweating and panting, but still her golden eyes remained trained on Apollo. “Step away from Akaboshi. I still got enough of Hope’s power left to disintegrate ya if I gotta.” “Bisco is already dead. The best thing you can do for him now is allow me to finish him off. He’s in tremendous pain, can’t you see?” “He’s still alive!” Tirol screamed, and even the specters around Apollo shrank in fright. “Akaboshi’s never down for good. No matter how close he is to the edge… Nah, even if he’s fallen off the edge… Nah, even if he’s fallen all the way down to hell! He’ll rise again, just like the sun! You don’t get to say whether he’s alive or dead!” “Then let’s see him stand again. How preposterous,” said Apollo, leveling his arm at Bisco once more. “I said step away!” shouted Tirol, leaping at him, but again Apollo sent her flying with a kick. “…” Seeing her fall, Apollo turned back to Bisco. Then her arms wrapped around his feet. She didn’t even have a weapon this time. Apollo planted his heel into her face, sending her tumbling across the floor, but she sprang to her feet like a cat, tackling his legs again, this time bringing Apollo down. “Just what are you?!” “Haah…haah…haah…” Tirol’s face was bloodied, her nose was broken, and the blood from her lungs pooled in her mouth. But her golden eyes were as bright as Bisco’s were, even in the direst of circumstances. “I’m a human! That’s more than you can say!” “Die…!” Apollo pointed his arm at Tirol, and it glowed with an azure light, when… “Euuuuh. Euuuuuhh!” …Apollo turned to see the server itself screaming, expanding, transforming, and all the while emitting a green burst of light that illuminated his horrified expression. “Wh-what? What’s happening?!” “Hee-hee-hee-hee! That means we’ve won, loser!” “…?!” Tirol smiled her usual devious smile. “Hope told me to give Milo thirty seconds, so that’s what I did!” “You planned this all along!” “Sure did. Guess even olden-day guys fall for the weak-girl act.” “Euuuuuuooooooogggghhh!” The server’s screech reached a new pitch, and the very air of the room shook. Then, in its center, a hole formed, and in a flash of emerald light, Milo flew back into the room. “Milo! You made it!” “You!” bellowed Apollo, aiming at his new foe. “Whoops. Shouldn’t take yer eyes off me. This jellyfish’ll sting ya!” Then Tirol swung the arrow she had been hiding in her hand, injecting its Rust-Eater poison into Apollo’s side. With a Gaboom! the mushroom rocked Apollo’s body, sending his shot wide. “Launch:Life:Maker!” Before he even hit the floor, Milo chanted the command words he had learned, and a multicolored light coalesced, forming a rainbow arc in his hands. He pulled its string tight and fired, and then all color and sound was extinguished from that place as a dazzling white light filled the room.