Warnings: Strong and Sexual Language; Violence, Gore & Death.
Keyleth, Athena, and Vax rushed to the study after slaining some guards to aid Percy. Vex and Grog were left to deal with the remaining ambushers. As they entered the study, they released a gasp at the sight of Percy clutching his sister with blood pouring out of her throat and mouth.
"Keyleth, hurry!" Percy cried. She immediately dropped to Cassandra's side, holding her up. While she was nervous, Keyleth quickly jumped it as she prepared to heal Cassandra.
"Vax!" she called as she tossed him her bag, "I need Wanderer's Moss, Flicksilver and, uh... the bag that says "dirt." Need pressure on the wound before the spell can hold." Vax quickly got the components out for the spell as Keyleth held onto the wound.
"Tick-tock, tick-tock," Anders teased as grabbed a bottle of alcohol for himself.
"Switch me, Athena," Keyleth said as she let go of the wound. Athena quickly placed her hands on it, her gloves turning a darker black from the blood.
"Okay," Keyleth calmed herself as Vax held up the components. She spit into the pile and ground it all together with her fist.
"You can do this," Vax encouraged. Keyleth let out a last shaky breath before nodding to Athena to remove her hands. Vax and her pressed the pile into the wound as Keyleth began the spell. A green aura spilled from the wound as Keyleth concentrated on healing. Professor Anders simply poured himself a glass as he watch in excitement.
"Oh, the joy in watching a de Rolo child meet a painful end," he said as he pick up his glass, "Cheers."
Percy faced turned into one of pure anger, "You son of a bitch!" The black smoke emerged around Percy as his eyes turned black. He fired a few bullets at Anders, breaking his glass.
"We're all sons of bitches, de Rolo." He vanished in a pile of smoke. Percy continued to fire into the smoke. Anders reappeared in another part of the study, "You in particular, from that bitch who bore you," he finished and slammed the door stopping the bullets from hitting him. Percy followed after him, pounding on the door until it broke open. He entered the room, reloading his gun. Athena looked up at Vax to see if it was alright for her to follow him.
"Go. I will be right there soon," he nodded. She quickly took off, bringing out her sword as she stepped into the room too. Anders was nowhere in sight.
"Aw!" they heard his voice as they scanned the room. "Did I poke a sore spot? You didn't know your parents like I did. They took every opportunity to keep an intellect like mine nose-down in the dirt, tutoring their... misbegotten spawn."
Percy and Athena further entered the room, looking for him. Athena's ears heard footsteps approaching them so she quickly turned around to see Anders in the air ready to strike. Her refluxes brought her sword up quickly blocking the attack. Percy rounded in front of her and let out a bullet but missed him. Knowing that the fighter couldn't retaliate with Percy close, he brought his rapier back and knock Percy's gun away from him. Anders lunged at him but Athena switched places with Percy. She moved slightly away from the strike as she grabbed his arm throwing him towards a display suit of armor. Percy quickly grabbed his gun up from the floor.
"Unlike you de Rolos, the Briarwoods see me for a greater purpose. And for my efforts, they have given me a great many rewards." He licked his lips with his tongue that had a silver hue as his eyes glowed that same color, "Rise, armor of old and greet our guests."
All the suits of armor in the room awoke as they began to surround them. Percy fired a few shots at Anders but the suit behind him blocked them. All the suits unleashed an assault on them. They both skillfully dodged out of the way of the attacks.
Percy turned back towards them growling, "My turn."
He fired at them but the bullets only ricochet off the armor. Percy expected this though as the bullets went up to the chandelier above one of them causing it to fall. It hit the suit but seemingly did no damage.
"Damn."
"Nice try," Athena offered as the armored warriors continued to approach them. She held up her sword ready to attack and defend Percy.
"Oi! Heads up!" Vax yelled as his dagger flew through the air, knocking one of them off guard.
"This revenge is mine, the both of you."
"Not if you're dead," Vax retorted, "We're in this shit together."
One of the suits charged up at them, slamming down his axe at them. Luckily, they all dodged at the way. This unleashed the rest of them on them. Athena knew that attacking that armor with her sword would be futile as she just did her best to dodge them.
"Uh, if you're not dead down there, we could use some help!" Vax called for Vex and Grog. The two of them ran up to the study pasting Keyleth who was still working on Cassandra. As they entered the room, they found their friends fighting the horde of suits.
"You and you, on the white-haired one," Anders commanded. The two of them charged at Percy who met up with Vax as both of the axes slammed down between them as they jumped out of the way.
"Right, um, which one can I kill?" Grog asked.
"Literally anyone," Vex replied as she charged in. Grog chuckled at the delight, still fueled from the earlier fight as he ran in too. Athena continued to dodge and parry the attacks but it seemed like a wasted effort. Vex came up beside her as she let out three arrows at one. They all bounced off of the armor.
"Well, this is fucking pointless!" Vex yelled as they both dodged a sweeping attack.
"We need to find a weak point!" Athena yelled back. She turned and saw Keyleth dash in as her saber-tooth tiger form, Minxie. She roared as she slashed at one of the armors but faced the same problem as the rest of them. She reared back from the suit as it was getting ready for its attack.
"Not even a scratch," Vax said. It moved to bring down its weapon on them, but Grog blocked the attack.
"That's one! That's three! That's 11!" he yelled as hit the armor three times. "All the letters!" he cried as he brought his axe on the suit's javelin, locking them both.
"As much as I loathed having to teach you, I'll relish watching you skinned alive," Anders commentated. One of the suits cornered Percy, pinning him against the wall. Percy panickly looked for a way out as it brought its mace up for the attack. At that moment, Percy spotted an opening in the slats as he shoved his gun in there. He fired a bullet causing the arm to rip off, falling on the ground with the mace.
"The slats!" Vex yelled as jumped over one of them. She flipped her body through the arm unleashing a cone of arrows that multiplied hitting it in the slats, causing it to fall apart. The rest of them took this information and began to attack the armor.
Athena rushed up to one, slashing through one of the arm slats before arching down on the other arm's slats. Both of the arms fell off as she cut through the head slat. The head fell off as she kicked it in the chest, causing the rest of the armor to fall down. Each one of them destroyed a suit but Grog was still locked up with his.
"Having trouble there, Grog? Because it looks like you're having trouble," Vax relished.
"Don't you do nothin'," Grog grunted.
"Don't get mad, big guy," Vax said bringing his daggers out.
"Don't tell me what to do, smaller guy!" Vax pierced both of his daggers through the arms slats. He pulled out as the suit of armor crumbled before the both of them with Grog's axes tapping the chest plate.
"I hate your face so much," Grog said while Vax just chuckled.
"And you!" Grog pointed at Anders, "You look like you need killing."
"How would you like to kill your friends for me," Anders said as his eyes glowed that same silver hue as he licked his lips with that silver tongue.
"Huh?.." Grog's eyes went small as he grabbed his head. He stood back up as his eyes glowed silver. "At your command," he said.
"He wouldn't," Vex gasped.
"Kill Vox Machina," both Anders and Grog said. Vax's head was grabbed by Grog, lifting him up.
"Uh, Grog, what are you...," Vax grunted as Grog began to squeeze. Vax tried to pull away but no one could beat Grog's strength. Luckily, Grog just threw Vax at one of the cabinets. He hit the cabinet with shelves breaking at the impact.
"If I'd known how much fun this was going to be...," Ander laughed, "...I'd have possessed this lummox and made him rip you apart right away," he and Grog spoke together.
Grog reared up for another strike as Minixe jumped in pulling the axe away. Keyleth transformed out of her wild shape.
"Please, Grog! We're your friends, remember? We love...," Keyleth shouted not before she had to jump out of the way from Grog's attack.
"Stay out of his range!" Vex yelled, "There's no reasoning with him while he's charmed."
Keyleth jumped out of the way, out of breath. "Or, you know, ever," she panted. Grog punched Keyleth sending her flying to Vex and knocking them both back against the wall.
"We need to disarm him," Athena spoke. Vex quickly formed a plan as she wrapped some rope around her arrow.
"You go high, I'll go low," she told Keyleth. She fired the arrow into one of the cabinets as Keyleth jumped on Grog. She spawned some vines to wrap around his axe while Vex pulled on the rope to try to trip him. Grog simply pulled on the rope, pulling Vex towards him. He knocked her back at the side wall and threw Keyleth with her. Percy jumped in but Grog caught him and threw him back as well. Percy hit the wall with great force, almost knocking him unconscious.
"Yes! Don't stop now you giant half-wit," they both spoke.
"Alright big guy, we can't play nice anymore," Athena prepared her sword as Vax stood up to aid.
"Didn't want to have to do this to you, but..." Vax jumped bringing down his dagger into Grog's flesh. However, just chuckled as he headbutt Vax sending him sprawling. Athena lunged at Grog but instead of facing her, he just chased after Vax who was stumbling to try to stay out of his range.
"Why is he only after me?! Oh, gods!" he yelled as he smack in the face with a book. Athena sliced her sword across his back figuring it wouldn't do much (he still had a dozen arrow holes in him and was going fine) but at least get him off of Vax. He turned around with a grunt and started to throw punches at her. She did her best to dodge them, but he sent one good punch at her face which sent her to the ground. Vax came from him behind grabbing onto his neck and pulling him back. Grog broke him off as the two of them began their game again.
"Faster! Kill 'em faster!" Ander yelled. Vex stood up looking at Vax and Athena struggling to stop Grog without damaging him too much. Percy was still collapsed on the ground by the broken wall.
"We can't stop Grog, so let's stop wasting our time on him," she said as she notched an arrow aimed at Anders.
"Enough of this," he called as he licked his lips, his eyes glowing. Vex's eyes glowed silver and lowered her bow.
"Vex?" Keyleth questioned as Vex looked at her making her fall under the charm as well.
"If the dumb one can't complete my task, there are many more resources at my disposal." Grog grabbed Vax looking into his eyes casting the charm on him.
"Shit!" Athena yelled as she felt a vine wrap around her left leg pulling her down onto the ground. Keyleth stood over her with her silver eyes. Athena tried to resist the charm but it was no use as she felt it completely take over her mind. Percy awoke to find them all staring at him.
"Pay attention, de Rolo. I want you to know how you died. And who did it to you."
"Your friend," they all said. Percy didn't know where to aim as he dodged an arrow from Vex. Grog charged forward throwing one of the displays as Vax threw all his daggers, narrowly missing Percy. Keyleth sent one of her vines, pinning Percy against the wall. Vex sent another arrow pinning his right arm as well, trapping him.
"No escaping this time, welp." All of his friends stood in a row, waiting for their final commend to end Percy.
"You're right...," Percy frantically looked around, scanning the room, "the de Rolos treated you poorly. My parents never recognized my potential and clearly missed yours as well. A talented mind needs time to cultivate, to think, to work out all the angles."
"Nice try, de Rolo. But flattery will not prolong your life."
"And yet, it bought me all the time I needed." His eyes turned black with orange pupils as the dark smoke emerged once again.
He broke off the arrows restraining him, causing the rest of them to charge. Percy aimed his gun and release a bullet that flew past them. It hit off one of the piles of broken armor and into an axe before flying into the side of Ander's mouth. Blood splattered all over the glass window as the silver tongue was dislodged from his mouth. Anders gurgled the blood pouring out from his mouth as fell to his knees, the tongue skittered away from him.
The charmed faded away from the group as they grabbed their heads, grunting, feeling their own thoughts rush back to them. They turned to see the condition that Anders was in as Keyleth released Percy.
"What..."
"The fuck."
Both Keyleth and Vax voiced out in disgust as they saw the tongue moving away on its own. "Get it, I guess," Vex shrugged. Both of them jumped trying to get it but it keep moving away at the right time. Grog grabbed one of Vex's arrows from the wall and ran up to it, pinning it to the ground.
"Got it."
Percy walked up to Anders as he was hacking on his own blood. The mask was present on his face again as more smoke poured out of him. He grabbed Anders and pushed him against the wall.
"We trusted you. You were our teacher. We would've done anything you asked." Percy shove the gun into the socket of where Anders mouth used to be. It glowed a firey red in his mouth.
"And you betrayed us when we needed you most. You're the face I saw when murder entered my heart."
"Guys, the smoke!" Keyleth called out.
Percy fired the gun. The glass window shattered around him as Anders fell out and onto the ground below. Anders' name disappeared from the gun as returned to its normal state.
"Percy?"
They all turned around to see Cassandra slowly getting up. Her hand was still around her throat but she was alive. Percy let out a gasp as he took off his mask and dropped the gun, running towards her. The group had to part otherwise they would have been trampled by Percy.
"Are you alright?" he reached out but was afraid to touch her.
"I think she's going to be okay," Keyleth said. Cassandra looked to the rest of them still shaken up.
"Come on, clear the house. Look for anything useful and make it quick" Vax ordered. They all quickly searched the remainder of the study while Percy and Cassandra talked to each other after many years. They all gathered back together at Andes' desk.
"Apparently Anders' only valuable possession was in his mouth. However, I did find this," Vex said as she rolled out a parchment.
"Oh! Hey, is this one of them connect-a-dots?" Grog asked.
"It's a star chart, Grog. These symbols show the sky at a specific time and date. The solstice," Keyleth recognized from the chart.
"That's five days from now," Percy said.
"Why would they have this?" Keyleth questioned.
"We need to signal Archie. Let him know that Cassandra is safe," Vex stated. Keyleth got a bright smile on her face as she ran to the door.
"I might have something for that," she smiled as she ran out. They all followed her outside with Grog carrying Cassandra.
"I've always wanted to try this," Keyleth giggled as she commanded the wind, her arms moving through the air. The clouds moved in a spiral motion as the began to assemble into a new shape.
"Kind of terrified. Kind of impressed," Vex remarked as the de Rolo took form in the sky with the moon shining down upon the city. They left the mansion, slowly walking down the street for Cassandra who was still dealing with the effects of her wound.
"The rebels should be gathering. If they saw the signal," Percy said while helping Cassandra.
"Maybe we shouldn't have announced ourselves with such... flair," Vex offered.
"Well, we wanted the people to know the resistance is still alive, right?" Keyleth remarked.
In the distance, they saw Scanlan panting, running up to them. He put his hands on his knees once he reached them, trying to catch his breath.
"Ay, oh! Scanlan, oh, you fuckin' missed it! I got arrowed a bunch, I had two voices in my throat, I stabbed a stupid tongue in the face," Grog began but Scanlan was still panting from running.
"Hey! Are you even listening to me?"
"There's a hor... hor... there's a hor...," Scanlan wheezed, pointing behind him.
"Yeah, not really the time for one of your whorehouse stories," Vex retorted.
"No... No," Scalan regained his breath, "A horde of undead!"
Behind him, Skeleton figures emerged in varying stages of decay as they were making their way toward them. Their eyes were glowing a faint purple hue.
"Oh! Horde. Got it," Vax said wide-eyed like the rest of them as thousand of undead marched towards them.
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Well, looks like I got this one done earlier than expected! However, I think I will take the rest of today and tomorrow off from writing before I jumped back into classes again. Let me tell you all, senioritis has hit me, but luckily my classes are pretty chill. Still have to go get my Masters though 😪.
But if you all remember from the show, you know what's coming next 😏 and yea I'm doing it here too!
Can't wait for the next one and to see your guys reactions. Don't forget to comment and vote!
Thanks!