Slash! Slash! Slash!
The sound tore through the air, sharp and sudden like metal tearing fabric.
Before Tess could turn, before her body could even register the danger behind her.. Berk was already there. Silent and quick, moving like a shadow that had always been in place.
Her pale form dashed past, her dull green eyes unblinking, unreadable, cold.
Her dual cyber daggers flashed, one in each hand... clean, precise, and fast.
The curved blades hummed faintly, leaving streaks of neon light in the misted air as she slashed clean through three of the Maze Crawler's limbs. The strikes weren't wild, nor were they furious. They were methodical, exact, done with a surgeon's calm and a killer's timing.
Screeeeech!!!
The Maze Crawler howled in a metallic, alien cry, a sound too twisted to belong to anything natural. Its limbs, now severed.. twitched on the floor behind them, oozing strands of silver-black glitching fluid that fizzled on contact with the ground.
By then, the girls were already gone.
Tess landed smoothly on her feet after retreating, her feet skimming over the fractured floor of the maze. Beside her, Lizz walked with a bounce, chewing her gum like nothing had just happened. The sound of her gum snapping echoed faintly behind their footsteps.
Tess turned slightly, casting a look at Berk, who stood a few steps ahead. The white glow of the maze walls pulsed against Berk's black hair, the light catching her slightly pale skin, giving her an unnatural, almost ghostly appearance.
She hadn't expected it, the speed of Berk's reaction....
But before Tess could think any further, Berk spoke first.
"That's a repayment," she said flatly, voice calm, eyes still fixed on the regenerating monster behind them...
Tess blinked once, then gave a faint nod, her lips curling into the smallest smile.
She knew that Berk wasn't the type that speak much… but now she knows that she also wasn't the type to stay indebted.
The Maze Crawler behind them was already knitting itself back together. Bones cracked back into place, tissue twisted and rewove, and the silver-black glitching ooze retracted into its mass. Its hulking frame trembled... not in pain, but with rage.
Only the sharp, playful giggles of Lizz broke the tension. She blew another bubble, let it pop loudly, and gave her mini cyber gun a pat.. "Heh... Round two," she whispered, almost to herself..
In that moment, no other words were needed.
The three of them moved.
Swoosh!
Tess darted left, her body low and balanced. The edges of her white shirt fluttered as she shifted through the tight angles of the maze, vanishing behind a tall slab of neon white stone. Her movements were fluid, almost too perfect, as if she'd trained in mazes like this for years.
Lizz sprinted in the opposite direction, weaving in and out of broken columns with a grace that looked like it belonged to a street dancer, not a killer. Her gum popped again. The sub-mini cyber gun was already in her hands, her fingers twitching on the trigger with childlike glee.
Above, skimming along the vertical maze walls, was Berk.
Her body moved low and close to the maze concrete, hands and feet sticking like she was born to defy gravity. Her breathing was calm, silent, her green eyes locked on the creature beneath.
They didn't need to signal. They didn't need to speak.
Their plan was already set.
Their minds were already honed in on the same thing.
The last Maze Crawler.
Screeeeech!!
The creature moved first. Its hulking body blurred... vanishing in a blink.
It reappeared behind Tess, its movements twisted and jagged. Its long claws came down like a guillotine, aimed straight for her back.
But...
It missed.
By the width of a hair.
Tess spun mid-stride, her body folding into a backflip with perfect timing. Her heels brushed the air as the claws tore through the spot she had been just moments before. She landed not on the ground, but directly on the creature's back.
And without waiting, she used it like a springboard, jumping again... higher, kicking off its chitinous armor. Her body twisted mid-air, her palms briefly touching the maze wall before she landed, feet first, walking along the vertical surface like it was the floor.
She didn't look back. Her orange eyes flicked toward the creature, the faint smirk returning.
The Maze Crawler turned with her.. its senses focused, predatory.
It took a step forward, intending to leap.
But it never got the chance.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted against its spine. The impact shook the walls, sent dust and cracked stones raining down from the maze ceiling.
The creature screamed.. not from pain, but irritation.
It had been hit...