It's Turbin' Time (Library of Ruina Modded/Arknights)

1.13 - Augury Kick

It is night.

You're scared.

Tonight, you face the hardest ordeal you have ever faced in your life. Your hands are trembling, even though you know that there is no room for hesitation. Today is your coming of age.

In the building before you- an old thing, whose surface of gray cement has been covered with scars by the passing of time- there is a single traitor, hiding. You don't know what was their crime, or why they committed it. All you know is that you need to kill 'em, and cleanse the Family of their sin.

How touchin'. Beat the baddy and go home in glory alongside your friend. Feels almost like the bullshit stories you and the scion kids used to tell each other.

…dammit. You're scared.

The clock that your father had- his silvery pocket watch- ticks softly inside your head. No matter how hard you try to clear your head, it doesn't stop ticking. Five minutes to the hour, then. It's almost time to smoke the traitor out. You try to put your breath under control- but you can't. Your eyes are bloodshot.

Someone puts their hand on your shoulder. It's heavy.

"Scared, cazzo?" asks Gambino, that infuriating grin in his face.

Like he's not scared, too. Bastard. He's talking shit like always, but you see the hesitation in his eyes. What a fucking- no, no. Calm down. You came here to kill someone. You'll do that, then leave. No time to get your temper out of control. You're not an idiot.

"Let's just go in already."

You snarl. It'll be infinitely simpler if you just catch the fucker trying to leave instead of walking down his apartment, alone. The fucker could've just gotten backup. It's not a difficult concept to get. He'd betrayed the Family, he had to betray them to someone.

"Really. Know what, fuck it. No one cares about that coglione enough to bail 'em out." you say, taking your crossbow out of the bag. "Let's go and hunt ourselves a traitor."

Gambino kicks the door of the apartment complex down. You surveil the entrance lobby. No one's here. This building is incredibly dilapidated. The landlord probably couldn't even be arsed to pay someone to stay here.

Crossbow in hand, you walk towards the elevator.

There's a sign hangin' on the metal door. "Closed for repairs." Given how the sign has literal cobwebs around it, these repairs must have taken a fucking century. Is there even an elevator here at all? Fucking hell, what a shithole. Guess that was why the poor fuck betrayed the Family. Well, not your business.

"Guess we climbin' this one." says Gambino, staring down the flight of stairs.

"It's just gettin' to the sixteenth floor, cazzo. And I'm supposed to be the one scared here."

He sneers at you. Gambino really hates people calling him a coward. Or scared. You hate it too, but when you're actually scared, you fucking admit it.

Well, the traitor isn't going to get himself into the coffin. Better get going.

---

You're waiting at the coglione's doorstep. Gambino's panting at your side. The fuck? He couldn't handle a fucking flight of stairs?

"Shut the fuck up, Capone. Asshole. I'm not fucking fat. Vai a cagare."

Merda. You said that out loud. Well, he recovers quickly, to his credit. It's just a second. He's ready.

The traitor doesn't even have time to react. The moron was packing his suitcase on a table. He just lets out a terrified scream- then Gambino's fist slams on his left temple. Did the imbecile not fucking notice you coming through the stairs. A knife comes out, and the dazed man tries to go for a stab. You shut that down immediately with a bolt on his arm.

With his momentum dissolved, a punch to the stomach from Gambino finishes the fight. He falls flat on the floor, completely defenseless. Your partner seals the deal by kicking his head while he's down, sending him unconscious and staining his shoes with a little bit of blood.

"Care to do the honors, Capone?"

You take a look at the unconscious man, whose face remains twisted in horror. You're not only supposed to kill this man- you're meant to kill him, cut of his head with a knife, and bring it back to your father. So they can use him as an example. You haven't killed anyone before, and now you're going to rip off the head of an unconscious man. For "honor." What fucking honor is there in this shit?

Your hands are trembling. You can barely pull back your own damn crossbow.

Gambino looks you in the eye. You swear, if he's going to give you shit for this-

"Eh. You backin' off now, Capone? Can't even get your hands dirty? Come on. I came here with ya. I'll stand by your side."

…what?

He extends you his hand.

"Gimme your hand. You got the knife. We wanted to do this before, didn't we. Let's make a promise… brother."

That… that moron.

You lower your crossbow, and put it in the table. You pull out the knife your father gave you. It's an incredibly sharp thing. Gambino opens his palm for you to cut, and groans as you slice through his fur.

Now, it's your turn. You hand him the blade.

When he cuts through your palm, he's slow. The moron is too shit with a blade to actually make the cut quickly without slicing your hand off.

You two clasp hands. From now on, you two have made a pact with each other. From this moment on, you are brothers. Brothers- brothers that will do anything to protect and, if necessary, avenge the other.

"Now, let's do the job, brother. Or are you gonna stand there and cry?" asks the fucker.

Well, you're not so scared anymore. Not with him here. At least, if you can't get through with this, someone is going to eat shit alongside you. So you grab the knife. Time to get this over with. You turn him the middle finger, and you stab-

...Have you had enough of my memories, Fixer?

No? Too bad. What a meaningless facade. Don't be so surprised. This link is two-way. I'll keep your secrets. Not like I care about them. Nothing that I've seen could be used as a tool for my survival. If it was, do you sincerely think I wouldn't have used it already?

My preservation is above all such compunctions. My survival matters above all. Keep going, keep going, keep going. That is all that matters. All that matters in this world...

…so damned hungry.

If I am to truly shed my skin… if I am to be borne anew, with a shell that will protect me against all harm… then I must devour my past. I must consume all that would threaten me. No matter the cost. I must persist, no matter the cost.

Gambino… when I kill you, I will be free from this accursed bond.

Now… I am to sink again into the unknown depths of myself, Sieghart. Goodbye. When I am to devour your flesh, I swear I will make it quick.

(A trait has been revealed.)

(The Stench of Betrayal: There are consequences to breaking such a sacred bond. But these consequences will be consumed, much like all else. The oath made was a lie, and the sin was also a lie. Everything that is not vital for one's survival is a lie- and lies will be left behind.

Gambino will ignore all protections that the Eternal Persistence constructs to defend itself. As long as Gambino lives, wounds he inflicts on the Eternal Persistence will not heal and cannot be adapted from. Killing Gambino will allow the Eternal Persistence to rise to far greater heights.)

---

…oh, you see.

Well, that wasn't that useful. You're not even sure how the hell are you going to get Gambino to help you out on this. Well, he might be open to helping out if the Eternal Persistence- that's his name, apparently- tries to eat him and you're the only person who can help. You make a mental note to get Gambino to help out if you can't kill this Distortion then and there.

And the Distortion knows of your past. Damn it. You have no idea how much it saw. You connected with it. You don't think it was lying, but you hope it will keep your secrets. Being from another world might bring all sorts of uncomfortable questions.

And oh, speaking of the Persistence…

Texas and Croissant can see exactly where the creature is going. As it dives in towards your ranged combatants- attempting a devastating bodyslam- all of you dash towards it. With luck, when it hits the ground, it will have a split second of vulnerability. You hope that your allies can dodge the incoming blow. It will hurt.

The Persistence lets out a screech. It does not assault your psyche- this one is just a normal noise, it seems. Then, it hurls itself towards the target at a blinding speed. This speed is unbelievable. Whatever it hits will be turned to mush.

As it gets closer and closer, Exusiai and Emperor dive out of the way, shooting at its most vulnerable areas while they're at it. The arm cannot explodes in a burst of acidic goo, and the whip-tendrils recoil under the rubber-bullet assault. Their aim is essentially supernatural. Few people that you know who can achieve this level of precision.

One of them is Emil- and Emil has the most expensive vision-enhancements that money can buy. It is interesting, actually, but you're not too bummed about it. You'll just ask how she is so good at this, when the whole fight with the Distortion is over.

Mostima does not makes any moves to dodge- she simply points her staves at the Persistence. One sliver of a second before he would collide with the horned angel, the Distortion simply stops in the air, with a perimeter of orange light forming around . Now's your chance.

Exusiai grins. There's a sliver of mania in her eyes that it's characteristic of that feeling. You know, the "I got you dead to rights" feeling. It's an amazing thing to feel. You almost feel a bit of pity for the Eternal Persistence as Exusiai rips it a new asshole. Actually- scratch that. Make that two hundred.

It can't even scream, apparently, being suspended in the air by this strange effect. Just as Exusiai's gun lets out a click and she makes the moves to reload, you reach the Persistence, your allies right in your heels. It's time for a smackdown.

You open up with a stab straight into its "head," if that weird mouth thing can even be called one. What matters is that you pierce clean into its maw. You don't even bother taking the sword off- you just materialize another and stab again.

And again, and again, until the Distortion is essentially a hardlight pincushion. Then, you step to the side for your allies to do their jobs. The swords dissolve into nothingness- and Croissant opens with a shield bash right as Mostima's abilities wear off.

The Persistence's momentum has been lost, and the impact splatters iit against the side of a building, where it's pinned down by one of Texas' sword rains.

But you think you've caught its strategy. You've been one-sidedly smashing it down through the entire fight. You need a finisher, or it's just going to get back up and fight again, this time with a dozen new adaptations. Its flesh is already bubbling and sizzling, hundreds of tendrils rising from its wounds… and wrapping around its body?

A defensive emplacement. It's forming a cocoon? No- a carapace. You turned its wings into mincemeat, but it's already growing new ones. This time, they're multiple, misshapen and asymmetrical insectoid wings. Built for staying in the air, rather than speed, like those bat wings? You wonder what governs these adaptations. Does it have a choice? It said it would sink into the depths of itself. Is Capone not entirely in control of the Persistence's actions? Does he take a backseat? A split personality? Distortions are varied. You're not sure, and you can't be sure, but if this thing can't plan or think rationally, this could pose an advantage. It could have simply evolved more cannons and rained down artillery in you, but-

You hear a scream.

Exusiai has been hit by a glob of acid, in her left arm. From somewhere. But it doesn't have cannons? Did it create new minions? Oh- it did.

All those maws it created in the floor are already rising. They've moved closer to each other, and these areas of flesh they formed around themselves have evolved into a minion. A singular, immobile island of meat in the battlefield. These mouths appear to be small and weak individually… but their tongues. Their tongues have mutated into cannon-like spitting organs. Tubes filled with residue and pus. They focused their entire assault into a singular area- Exusai's left arm. Is it intelligent?

Croissant raises her shield right as the island readies another volley of acid. You and Texas dive behind her.

She holds- even as the minion vomits a surge of poison at her. The shield looks like shit- burned and deformed in certain parts of its surface, but she held.

The Distortion distracted you to give time to its recovery. It wasn't meant to cause any harm- the damage to Exusiai was just a nice bonus. Her arm is limp. Mostima makes quick work of the minion, but you can see that the Persistence has once again taken flight, dodging the Emperor's slingshot gun.

"Exusiai, you okay? Can you still fight?" you ask. Her face is twisted in pain. The wound was bad. It's burned off all layers of her skin, and the exposed flesh has been burned white. It's unlikely that the arm is going to have any use through the flesh. It does look like a sulfuric acid burn...

"Yeah, I can. Have to go back to the other gun, though."

Texas looks at you, and pulls out something from her belt- bandages.

"We'll need to clean the wound of any residue. We don't know if it's poisonous." you tell her.

She obviously doesn't look happy. Dammit. She's hurt. An ally has taken a massive hit, and if you need to take down another one of its adaptations, it will be more difficult.

"The mouths ain't spreadin' like they did on these folks, though... and my shield's all busted up..." notes Croissant, with no small amount of chagrin.

Before you can answer, you hear the sound of wings. The Distortion has once again risen to the skies, and- shit, it's fleeing.

It releases yet another scream- not a mental attack- and begins its retreat. Shit, shit, shit. You have no idea of what it will do if it gets to a population center. It's running away to find more food to eat. You can notice that its wounds haven't healed fully. It's riddled with bleeding holes, and retains the stumps of the wings you sliced off. It's formed some sort of carapace around Capone's original torso, but everything else is untouched. Does it need a constant supply of biomass to actually heal?

Its flight is erratic and slow. It's using seven of its tendrils- which you now notice that have been adapted into new cannons- to push itself through the air and dodge Emperor's attacks. You have no doubt that it can use them offensively, if it so desires. Mostima is pointing her staves at it, and whenever she hits the damn thing, it slows down for a second. Her abilities appear to be based around some kind of temporal manipulation, perhaps? You can sense that she's also worried about Exusiai, even if she doesn't show it.

But you don't think that Mostima will be enough- it's already getting away. You can't let that thing escape into the city- and if it does, you'll have to persue it. There is no knowing what it will become with enough civilians as its all-you-can-eat buffet.

What do you do?

[ ] Write-in.

---

Status of Self and Allies:
Sieghart: A considerable amount of internal damage, but not enough to actually reduce his capacities in any meaningful way. Has become adjusted to the Fairy and will not activate it as much when fighting.
Texas: Fully recovered. Worried about Exusiai.
Mostima: Staves unleashed. Fully willing to utilize temporal manipulation abilities. Not willing to fully unleash her power. Worried about Exusiai, even if she doesn't show it.
Exusiai: Acid burns on left arm and some of it has fallen on her torso, too. That arm will be unavaliable until it gets healed- meaning, no rifle. The acid burns don't seem to spread it's maw-infection?
Emperor: Tense, furious at the Eternal Persistence because it just keeps fucking dodging.
Croissant: Considerable damage to shield, probably some very slight acid burns on arms, too. Otherwise, just very nervous.

Enemy Status:

THE ETERNAL PERSISTENCE

- Grade: Lowermost rankings of Star of the City. If it wasn't shot to shit, it could probably annihilate two Grade 1 Fixer with some effort, by now. Can rise higher...
- Condition: Airborne. Riddled with stab wounds, concussed, broken bones, its main mouth is torn, its torso is riddled with a massive amount of bullet holes, and it had to basically cover them up with a shell. Arm cannon exploded with Exusiai's rifle, whips destroyed by Lil' Homie. It can't adapt properly without mass, it seems. It's losing blood extremely fast. If it can't find food, it dying might be a real possibility...
Sieghart's Note: I was right! It needs meat to support its evolution. If it can't eat, it's a sitting duck! It needs biomass. It's likely running on fumes- consuming the last of whatever stockpile it built up from eating its previous victims. I need to stop it, or it will become unstoppable when it finds civilians to eat.