Hardman's Bar

By Hadrian Howell (Hardman)

Chapter 41

Snakeman was next to shout out in triumph. “Found you!” His Search Snakes had spent the battle looking for Mesmerman’s real counterpart, which they’d found behind one of the stained glass windows. Behind the glass was actually a secret compartment pained to look like space, but the Search Snakes were literally unavoidable.

Mesmerman’s brain-dead expression was all I caught a glimpse of before the Search Snakes that had attached to him exploded, taking him with them.

“That was easy,” Needlegal commented.

“Good work, guys,” Gauntlet nodded. “Let’s get moving.”

Still on a bit of an adrenaline high from the battle, we all gathered at the base of the next staircase and started going up together. The doors at the top of these stairs were much like the last pair we’d encountered, except the tapestry above them had something that looked oddly like a rook from a chess board.

“Wonder who this is,” Magnetman said aloud as he and Geminiman pushed open the double doors.

This room was exactly like the last, stained glass windows and all, except for a very different shape and enemy taking up the space at the bottom of the stairs.

“Aw, son of a #&@$%,” I shouted as Siegema’am took her first thunderous step toward us.

“Avoid that spear head!” Snakeman shouted as a warning to the rest of the group as an all-too-familiar booming sound signified Siegema’am’s first attack. We all went one way or the other as it crashed into the door and started to winch itself back it.

“Think this one has someone in it too?” I asked Needlegal, who’d hit the deck near me.

“Let’s hope not,” she growled as she got to her feet and started running around the side of the room.

I stood up to, and wasn’t at all surprised when Siegema’am turned her attention toward me. I was, after all, her target of choice. I launched both Hard Knuckles at her as her head opened up, and managed to avoid the return fire of the Siege Buster but barely.

Topman hit her with all the force he could squeeze into a Top Spin, but did little more than scratch her paint. She threw a half-hearted punch at him, which he danced away from, as a swarm of Search Snakes started latching onto her ankles. They exploded, but with little effect, and she leveled that deadly spearhead at me again.

In a way, I’d rather be the target than any of my friends. At least I could get hit by that spearhead and not immediately die from it. Then I remembered something.

The boom, and the whistling in the air preceded the spearhead as it sailed toward me. I weaved to one side and managed to catch the actual blade of the spear in my hand. Not feeling any ill effects, I grinned and crushed the thing in my hand, and the chain winched ineffectually back into her now useless left arm.

“Nice one, Hardman!” Magnetman crowed as he bombarded her with Magnet Missiles. She stood firm under the assault of explosives, but didn’t fare so well against a pair of Gemini Lasers that gouged deep holes in her armor. Siegema’am opened up with the Siege Vulcans, only to find that not only wouldn’t they fire, but they wouldn’t even try.

I threw a thankful glance at Magnetman as I charged forward, Since her only weapon left was the Siege Buster, and I could count on the rest of the team to keep her from using it, I felt it necessary to go in and land a few solid blows myself.

Her head cracked open to unleash the Siege Buster again, but an expertly aimed Shadow Blade stuck in the barrel and shorted out the assembly. Left with few other options, the black giantess tried using the Siege Vulcans again, but the rotary cannons were taken out by a hail of needles. Then, to top it all off, I arrive, hitting her twice in the face, once in her right shoulder, and once in the gut.

Still, she refused to fall over. I backed away as Siegema’am threw a failing punch in my direction, but fell really short of hitting the mark. Sparkchan took the opening, though, and dashed in, stabbing her twin electric spikes into the holes left by the Vulcans and letting my exterminator taste the full force of her fury.

There was a split second where I grabbed Sparkchan and drew her back before Siegema’am exploded in a fantastic display of electric power. All that was left were her legs, which actually fell backwards, smoking, onto the carpet.

“That was a LOT easier,” I remarked as we made for the next flight of stairs.

Another tapestry hung over the double doors at the top, one that looked almost like a window, in some ways.

“I swear, if this is Cityman, I quit,” Snakeman muttered. “I just quit.”

“Quit what? The Maniacs?” Geminiman asked.

“No, I just quit. Period.”

Those words in our minds, Shadowman and Needlegal pushed open the doors.

This room was like the last two, but also unlike them. There were no stairs here, and instead of separate windows like there’d been in the rooms before, there was instead one continuous, circular window that ringed the entire room. Needlegal let out a breath of awe.

“It’s beautiful…” she managed.

Even I had to admit the window was a beauty. Colors played fantastically off one another, and the pictures all worked well in the general theme. Granted, I really couldn’t make out the pictures very well, but I really couldn’t complain.

And then came the short, singular laugh.

“Ooookay, who’s there?” Magnetman asked.

“Welcome to my realm, Maniacs.”

“Hakushaku?” Needlegal asked.

“The laugh resounded through the chamber again. “Very good! You know who your foe is. Might I add, it was masterful to use my own teleportation circle against me in such a fantastic manner.”

Geminiman grinned. “Piece of cake.”

“Ah, but your times to relax and reminisce with old friends are over, I’m afraid. You have but one final challenge before you before I deem you worthy of facing me.”

“Bring it on, creepy guy,” Topman shouted.

“And I will,” the voiced said in a hissing, dark laugh. “But first, you must deal with my final guardian. Or should I say, guardians?”

“And where are they?” Snakeman asked.

“Are you blind, Snakeman?” Shadowman hissed.

“What?”

“Look at the windows,” the boss said simply.

We all looked then, and what we saw was… difficult to comprehend, to say the least.

Pink pieces of the stained glass windows were starting to become dislodges, and float out into the room. It seemed all too random as they started to collect above our heads, joined by a swarm of blue pieces. The two puzzle-like conglomerations of glass folded outward, into somewhat recognizable arms,legs, and a body, slowly drifted to the floor before us. They stood a little shorter than me, making them a bit taller than the rest of the team, and each of them had half of a face; a small, sideways triangle with half a playful smile and an eye drawn on it in loving color.

“Mechanical Maniacs, please meet my two watch dogs, Eden and Hades.”

“Charmed, I’m sure,” I mumbled.

“And now, Hades and Eden, give them the fight of their lives!” Hakushaku’s voice roared with a dark, deep laughter.