Odell glared at Evron. The Zenotote snarled back. With the inclusion of Cecilia gave a new target for the pale blue opponent to focus on. Evron vanished, and Odell yelped for Cecilia to move, but he was too slow. The man appeared behind her and swiped his hand through her intangible body.

  Relief washed over the grey prince like water from a shower head. His mind suddenly felt clear, and he knew what he had to do.

  “Stay intangible!” Odell shouted. In an instant, he burst across the room—his body weight no longer an issue now that he had his Needaimus. Evron had no time to react, save for a slight jerk backward. Odell stopped in front of Cecilia and swung a lightened hammer through his fiancée, intensifying the weight just before cracking into Evron’s chest. It made a hollow cracking sound like when a ball hits a bat, and Odell finished his swing just like a sports player while sending Evron across the lobby to crash into one of the many pillars lining the space. The column cracked to what would have been a worrying degree if it were load-bearing, but Odell was pretty sure it was decorative.

  Whatever metal device Evron had in his chest sputtered and sparked, now too useless to work again. The man hacked bitterly. He tried to get back on his feet, but after a shaky attempt, dropped face-first to the floor.

  “I’ll kill you!” Even too weak to move, Evron still had rage in his voice, though it seemed to fade with every word. He was on the verge of passing out, kept awake by what little anger he could use to keep himself going.

  Odell swung the hammer over his shoulder and made a confident pose to the defeated man. Cecilia made a small, but ecstatic cry from it, and Odell did his best not to seem too happy.

  “Stay down for now, we have to go clean up your minions,” Odell said. He turned to the scared-looking tourists still in the lobby. “Don’t worry, everyone, it’s safe now!”

  “Head tilt. Safe for whom, I might ask?”

  A feminine voice came from the lobby doors, loud enough to be heard over the pouring rain.

  A humanoid Needaimus, taller than Odell and Cecilia, and made up of wet, pink metal, stood with its arms crossed and head cocked to the side.

  “What happened to the others?” Cecilia nervously asked.

  “Matter of fact. They were weak, easy to defeat. Not at all a challenge. Plebs. I will now defeat you. Looks behind you. Evron, get out of here while you are still conscious.”

  Odell could only catch a glance of the weak opponent before he vanished, this time not reappearing anywhere close. He gritted his teeth; he should have demanded that the man break his bond with his Needaimus while he had the chance. Teleporters were too slippery otherwise.

  The grey prince turned back the newcomer. He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. It was just another enemy to beat. They would have had to deal with this one anyway.

  “Alright then, let’s get on with it.”

  “Finger to chin,” the pink Needaimus matched its movements to its words, “You sure are a confident one.” Odell wasn’t sure if the weird word choice was a glitch or if the Needaimus thought it was cute, but he thought it was stupid.

  “Careful, Odell,” Cecilia warned with an uneasy tone in her voice, “that thing beat both the Bentalousian girls and doesn’t even have a scratch.”

  “Rheba’s wards?”

  It was a shock for sure, but Odell didn’t find either of those two to have impressed him in any way since their first meeting. Bentalousian warriors were usually some of the best, but maybe they were exceptions. The pink opponent didn’t seem likely to give him much of a chance to withdraw from the fight either way. Odell steeled his nerves and held his hammer ready.

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  He shot upward like a rocket and spun midair to kick off the ceiling with a weighty thrust. The ceiling made a loud crack above as Odell shot toward his opponent.

  He closed in, ready to add weight to his hammer and deal a hefty blow. A blow hit his stomach as his opponent vanished. The grey prince was thrust up and did a roll midair from the force as his momentum crashed him into the floor. His back hit the ground without a sound as his body was still light, but his stomach burned. The pink opponent stood where the blow had been delivered with its fist still outstretched after the blow to his gut.

  It pulled its fist close and turned to Odell to stare with its featureless, pink face.

  “Curiosity. You seem to change your weight, and use it most interestingly.” It strolled forward and kneeled next to Odell. “The last Mortal I fought with that Needaimus simply floated up and crashed down with heavy weight, very easy to fight. Nod. But I like your style.”

  The grey prince knew Needaimus were old, and that his own, Cal, had been around long before him, and partnered with many other people, but hearing something say it out loud brought an odd sense of horror with it. It was as if it made the pink Needaimus seem even more dangerous just by suggesting it had such a storied history.

  “Get away from him, Biaskylo!” Cecilia floated in the air and threw a brick at the back of their opponent's head. The projectile suddenly reversed course midair and flew back at her. It phased through, but the grey girl still looked stunned.

  Neither of the Hobusians knew what this ability was, and that made it all the more frightening. It seemed like advanced teleportation when it hit Odell, but he was no longer sure.

  He wasn’t without defiance, however, and swung his hammer from his lying position at the Needaimus’ head. It vanished before the weapon ever made contact. The pink foe stared up at Cecilia from underneath the floating girl.

  “Tap foot on ground. You are a difficult one, but Scullery Maid’s intangibility can only last for two hours at a time before a rest is needed. You have been using the ability for how long now?”

  Cecilia shivered midair and turned a pale shade of grey. She had never even told Odell about the limits of her ability, and her Needaimus was one that had never been cataloged in the Needaimus Guide, so he was certain that she thought no one knew exactly what the limits were.

  “Odell, we need to run!” Cecilia shouted.

  The grey prince grunted as he stood back up. His stomach burned, but he pushed through the pain.

  “Shake of the head. I already told you I killed the last user of Calaba Jester, yet you still think of fighting me?”

  “Cecilia, you get out of here. I’ll catch up.”

  “No, I am not going to leave you!” Cecilia lowered to the ground and looked worriedly at the floor.

  “Intrigue. What a strange pair. Most flee to save themselves.”

  Odell held his hammer ready and charged in a straight line. He might need to suffer a few more hits, but he could surely figure out this ability. Tancred would have by this point, after all.

  This time, the Needaimus didn’t even move. It continued standing in one place even as Odell felt a sensation like a crack to his chin and a kick to his knee. He dropped to a knee and grunted.

  “Odell!” Cecilia cried. She screamed and flew directly at the pink opponent. If she lowered intangibility at the last second, a blow could be delivered quickly enough before any attacks could be inflicted on her in return. Odell knew the logic; he had seen her pull it off on guards and others as a way to pester them, but it still felt risky.

  “Cecilia, wait!”

  Just as Cecilia’s face was nearly next to the face of the pink Needaiums, fist ready to strike with a quick, tangible blow before going intangible once again, the girl’s body went from floating midair to lying on the ground. Blood streamed from her head into freshly cracked floor, shards of her bony crown were littered around it, and the weak breathing was the only indicator that she was still alive in any fashion. The pink Needaimus seemed to teleport halfway between the two Hobusains in the same instant, without a care for the defeated foe left behind.

  “Cecilia!” Odell roared. He stood up with his arm ready to punch, only for his arm to suddenly be twisted the wrong way. He screamed as he grabbed where bones were shattered and glared at the opponent, who never moved.

  “Cursiosity. You still remain defiant?”

  Odell’s leg was suddenly twisted just the same. He roared and fell to the floor. Pain bit from every angle, and he tried to force him out cold, but he slammed his fist on the ground and began to drag himself forward.

  The next second, the pink Needaimus was next to him and had a foot shoving his body to the floor.

  “Nod. You will make for an interesting specimen. I have called some of our men to collect you and the woman. Never fear, we will keep you in the same cell together.”

  Odell’s vision was darkening as he stared at the unconscious Cecilia. He still wasn’t strong enough. Evron might have been beatable, but there was always a tougher opponent. He tried to pull his body forward with his good arm, the one still bonded to Cal, but the pressing on his back kept him from moving. “You still fight even now?”

  Odell clawed at the ground. He tried increasing his weight. He tried to lessen his weight. Nothing worked. His vision grew ever more darker until it all faded to black.