Epilogue

Epilogue 2.13

---Em---

     "Out of the way!" Ace barks from behind me. I duck. Ace fires his arm cannon. The blast hits Kag square in the gut. Rivulets of electricity slither along the demon's scales. They disperse into nothing.

     Kag pounds his fist against his chest, making an almost-metallic clank. "You're gonna have to do better than that." He springs forward and lashes out with his tail. It produces a sonic boom, like the crack of a whip. The pointy end of the tail slices open Ace's shirt and leaves a gash in his chest. Luckily, the gash is high up enough to avoid reopening his already existing wound.

     I stare at Ace, not because he cuts quite the figure or anything, but because he's got a glowing power stone embedded in his chest just below the base of his neck, like this super hero Colby once dressed up as for Halloween.

     "Cybernetic modification," Ace explains between agonized grunts. He falls back. "Cover me, will you? I need to charge this baby up."

     Topher casts me a sidelong glance. "Gun me. Now."

     "What?"

     "You're packing. Don't think I didn't notice. So unless that baseball bat's for me..."

     Kag prepares for another attack. Whatever's up with Topher can sit on the backburner for a while. Get all nice and crispy. Right now we've got a demon to slay, and no Comma to do the slaying. I slide the gun out of my belt and toss it to Topher.

     He positions his body to best counteract the kickback and fires. The bullet pings off of Kag's scales and plops into the lake. You've got to be kidding me. He's bulletproof too? How the hell are we supposed to kill this thing?

     Topher apparently doesn't take no for an answer. He fires again, and again, and again. I think I get it. He's aiming for the eyes—the only spot the scales aren't protecting. Problem is, he aims like a drunken frat boy taking a piss in the middle of the night, as my father would've said.

     I raise my bat and swing when Kag lunges at me. The metal connects with the demon's right temple with enough force for a pop fly. Only, you know, his absurdly solid head's about as sturdy as a cement wall. My hands sting like hell from the recoil.

     I glance over at Ace. He's crouched down, with a pained look on his face. Blue lines resembling the patterns on a circuit board flow from his power stone to the arm cannon. He looks up just in time to see Kag bearing down on him.

     He kisses his teeth. "I told you to cover me!"

     Topher fires straight up into the sky. I don't get it. New tactic? I direct my gaze upwards.

     Oh. So he's out of his mind. That's nice to know.

     His warning shot managed to snag the attention of one of the pterodactyls circling the sky above us. Even Kag freezes up as the Jurassic menace nosedives towards us. The pterodactyl opens up its beak and snatches Topher right up in its mouth before sweeping back up. It vanishes amidst the rust-coloured clouds.

     But I haven't got time to mourn yet another loss. Need to buy Ace some more time. I leap onto Kag's back, reaching over his shoulders to try and gouge his eyes out. I claw at his scaly face, shredding up my nails something awful. Kag jerks back and forth, trying to shake me loose.

     He manages to fling me off of him. I crash into the railing of the bridge, and the resulting crack sounds like my spine splitting in two. Only, not, because I'd be dead were that the case. I grab the baseball bat, soldiering on, and swing harder this time, thinking if I can muster up a little bit more force I might be able to do some more damage.