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  Its eyes were scared. So terrified that the assault rifle dripping water off its barrel shook in its crooked, bloody, gray fingers. Bianca stared upward, lips in a thin grimace, her entire body one flaming piece of fucking-end-this-already. People screamed behind her. The water was rushing upward, a roar like the ocean finally wanted to claim everything that had been crushing it. Ru clawed onto the wood, almost vertical now, her fingers straining, the golden paint on her knuckle wraps bleeding down her scarred, shaking arms. Bianca’s arm quaked. Can’t hold on for much longer. Move, and that thing shoots. Move, and that trigger happy, mangy fucking animal takes its glory shot and finally stands up for Savage. She could see it in the thing’s eyes, this battle, this silent argument as it caressed the trigger.

  If Savage was dead, this one would be in charge. He’d be the one who took out two superheroes who thought they could stop the Pride. Bianca didn’t know much about Lower Olympus. She knew enough about it to know people took cheap shots to make sure they got somewhere a little higher in the filth than everyone else.

  “Please,” Bianca gasped. Her ears rang. The water screamed louder and louder. “Don’t make a bad—”

  The rifle went off, gunfire popping so violently and loudly she flinched as the bullets tore through wood. The recoil swung the rifle around in a tight, wild arc, shattering wood and spitting shrapnel into her face and arms.

  Bianca’s head spun around. She saw terrified, pale faces staring up at her. The appendages had swung them around, packing them tightly together. None of them are hurt. She almost sighed with relief. But not when the thing above her started laughing, short and ugly. It was a high-pitched thing, squeaking through its crooked, broken maw.

  “B-beg,” it said nasally, rifle swinging, making more people scream. “C-come on, l-louder! I wanna—”

  “B,” Ru said through her teeth. She sank her fingers deeper into the wood. How freaking strong is she? She was panting through her mask. “Can’t you attack him with one of those things? Gut him if you’ve got to, just—”

  “Can’t,” she said through her teeth. “Don’t have any of them left. Just enough for—” Fuck, this is hard.

  “You shouldn’t h-ha—” It swallowed so hard its entire head twitched. “You should’ve respected Savage!”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Bianca clawed her way upward, lifting so much weight it felt like the worms were ripping the flesh right off her spine. The muzzle jerked toward her. She didn’t flinch. She’d had guns pointed at her before. But the muzzle was hot, so hot the water dripping off it steamed and hissed. Mangy’s face twisted in the harsh sunlight, so nasty it looked horrific. Bianca gritted her teeth, still tasting blood and wood. She glared upward, blinded by the sunlight.

  Superheroes. Where were the fucking superheroes when you needed one for once?

  “How’s your arm?” Ru hissed at her.

  Bianca glanced at the shoulder O’Reiley had shot. Then swallowed a gasp.

  A finger-sized graze meant a finger-sized chunk of muscle missing, wound cauterized and dark.

  No. No. She shook her head and looked upward, back straining, then she forced it to move, no matter the pain raving down her back. She grabbed hold of the wood with both her arms, back straining, almost feeling the worms start pulling the skin off her body. Bony fingernails slowly split apart her fingertips as she sunk them deeper into the wood. God, this hurts. Thishurtsthishurtsthishurtssofuckingmuch. She wanted to pass out. Her grip slipped. People screamed at her and so did the ocean. The houseboat was tipping, almost dangerously. The Kaiju above them wobbled and found its slippery footing. The rifle almost slipped out of its hands. It gripped harder onto the barrel, crooked claws scarring the metal. Ru let go of Bianca’s waist and pulled the black mask off her face. Her silver hair hung backward, wet with sweat, tainted pink with blood that shined. She worked her jaw, then looked up.

  “What’re you doing?” Bianca hissed. “He’s gonna shoot if—”

  Ru leaned back, mask firmly in her hand, then launched the thing upward so hard it whistled.

  The black metal mask carved through the air faster than the Kaiju could react.

  It missed the rifle, clipped its edge, making it violently spin around.

  It glinted in the sunlight, then gouged open the Kaiju’s throat.

  Blood gushed onto Bianca’s face, hot and metallic. The Kaiju stumbled, gasped and gargled, tried to aim the rifle and ripped bullet holes through the wood around them until it went click. Bianca flinched. Wooden shrapnel in her arms, cutting across her face. Then she watched the mangy fucking thing topple over and into the hallway. Ru ripped the mask out of its throat as the thing fell past them, smashing and crashing into one open door and then the next until it plunged into the dark, raging abyss below them. Bianca watched Ru clip the mask back onto her face, blood still wet through the mesh. Ru grabbed her waist again, and up they clawed into the sunlight.

  Blood still on Bianca’s face, in her mouth and hair and fully inside her ears, turning her deaf.

  Maybe for the better.

  It sounded like hell was screaming at her, begging to tear her apart, telling her exactly where she should be.

  And Ru’s fingers were burrowing into her stomach, so painful, so so painful, and…

  Right. The wooden shrapnel in her stomach. That’s why she felt…why she felt so…

  Bianca shook her head. Willed the appendages to tighten around the people behind her.

  Slowly, finally, hot, painful sunlight washed over her bleeding fingers.