Hardman's Bar
By Hadrian Howell (Hardman)
Chapter 44
We scattered as two massive blades of colored glass slammed down, leaving rents in the floor and splintering wood. I fired both knuckles into Eden’s face as Topman, Magnetman, Snakeman and I ran for one side of the room while Geminiman, Shadowman, Sparkchan and Needlegal went to the other.
“We’ve got to kill that music!” Snakeman shouted as Eden took a thunderous step toward us.
“Yeah, it IS pretty annoying,” Magnetman commented, peppering the monsterous blue conglomeration with Magnet Missiles.
“No, that isn’t what I meant,” Snakeman told him. “That organ is what’s driving them, somehow!”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“Trust me, I have a feeling.”
“Fair enough,” I shrugged, by hands clicking back into place. “Can’t hurt anybody, really.”
Topman deftly leapt onto my shoulder. “First, I have to distract this thing or he’ll tear you guys to shreds! Let’s go, Hardman!”
“Not a problem!” I said, grabbing Topman and throwing his spinning form at the oncoming behemoth. I was already turning away as he crashed into Eden at full force. The Top Spin had proven to be VERY effective against Eden and Hades, so I saw no reason not to let the little guy do his thing. I was better suited to tearing down the organ anyway.
I went to work, hesitating only slightly because of the meticulous craftsmanship of the keys and pipes of the organ, but also fully understanding that if we didn’t shut this thing down somehow, we were going to get cut to ribbons.
My hands smashed through the keys, sending the pieces flying in all directions, while Snakeman shot his Search Snakes into the various pipes, destroying those from the inside out. Magnetman kept assaulting Eden with barrage after barrage of Magnet Missiles, while Topman dashed back and forth, colliding with it with a Top Spin when he got the chance.
Still, the music crashed into our ears, and I pulled one of the larger pipes free from the wall and swung it like a bat, toppling several pipes and smashing a few feet of keys. I took a second to take stock of the damage I’d done and realized this was going to be a very time consuming process.
Fortunately, it looked like the others had caught on to Snakeman’s plan, and six Geminimen were crushing, kicking, and punching the organ while Sparkchan and the others held off Hades.
A cry from Magnetman brought my attention around, and I saw a large, long glass shard sticking out of his shoulder. He swore loudly and pulled it out, tossing it to the ground, before firing a few more Magnet Missiles while retreating. I grabbed another long, stout pipe from out of the wall and charged, shouting at Magnetman as I went by.
“You’re turn on the vandalism squad!” I shouted as Eden turned its attention to me. I don’t know what Magnetman did, but I swung the pipe for all I was worth, catching the towering glass construct in the hip, sending shards of blue death in every direction.
I got peppered with shards, some sinking deep enough into my armor to actually hurt, but I couldn’t stop, and pressed the attack, sundering Eden’s opposite knee with another powerful swing. The body began to topple, but Topman came from out of nowhere I could see and actually skated up my leg and front to leap off my shoulder to get high enough to slam into Eden’s upper body with a Top Spin that sent him everywhere. Topman landed as the pieces started to pull themselves back together.
“We’re getting’ nowhere fast!” I shouted over the tide-like crash of the organ music as Topman regrouped with me. As Eden stood back up to its full height, Search Snakes flew out from behind me and latched onto some key points, exploding and forcing the monster to collapse again.
Snakeman ran by, slapping Topman’s shoulder. “I’m tagging in!” he shouted as a tremendous clang from collapsing organ pipes signified a major blow to the instrument. Topman gave me a nod before dashing off behind me, his Top Spin sure to wreck havoc on the organ.
Eden rebuilt itself as Hades crashed apart on the other side of the room. The two halves of the team were working in opposite directions instead of toward each other, insuring that by the time Shadowman and his half got around to where we’d started, we’d be getting to their original position as well, insuring the organ would be completely destroyed.
I got shocked out of my thinking by a sweeping blue blade that came so close to bisecting me I actually got part of my shoulder clipped off when I moved. I shouted and grabbed the wound, dropping my pipe and only then realizing that might have been a bad idea. The blue wall that had previously been a blade swept sideways, slamming into me and shattering all around me as I held my ground. I felt even more shards sink into my armor, as well as two distinct stabbing pains in my face.
I swore out loud for the third time in as many minutes and tried to pull the shards out of my face, having some difficulty due to my oversized hands. Succeeding with one but giving up on the other, I turned and bombarded a battered looking Eden with a pair of Hard Knuckles, knocking it down again.
I ran back to the edge of the room, grabbing Magnetman by the shoulder.
“What’s-WOW!” Magnetman said, turning to look at me. “Doesn’t that hurt?”
“Yeah, a lot, can you pull it out please?” He did, making a sound that mad me feel a little queasy inside. The shard clattered to the ground as Magnetman put a hand on my uninjured shoulder.
“I’ll go keep him busy,” he nodded. “Kill this music already, will you? It’s driving me up the wall!”
He ran off to apply explosives liberally to the freshly reconstituted Eden, and I met up with Topman, who’s Top Spin was proving just as effective as I’d hoped. “Havin’ fun, bite size?” I asked as I slammed my fist into the organ.
“Tons!” He shouted, spinning further down the line, sending pipes and keys across the room like a whirlwind. I could see we were actually getting closer to having the whole thing totally destroyed. Due to Topman’s abilities, we were only about 40 feet away from being done with our half, while the others still had about 60 feet to go.
“I’ll leave this up to you, Toppers,” I shouted down to him as I started to charge around the edge of the room back to where Snakeman and I had started smashing the endless instrument. A shot-from-the-hip Hard Knuckle stopped a larger shard of glass from collapsing on Snakeman, who gave me a grateful look before setting his Search Snakes on some of the large chunks that remained.
I got close to the remaining section of the Organ and just threw my body into it, causing a domino effect that actually destroyed another few feet worth of keys and pipes. A thunderous cacophony assaulted my hearing as the dislodged pipes clanged to the ground, but on the edge of my hearing, the music was starting to die out…
Suddenly, there was a white body, pink hair, and one very large fist in front of me, and I was knocked backwards by Juno’s surprise attack. An expression of absolute fury registered upon his face as he pressed the attack, hovering forward and slamming my side with his other fist. I rolled with the blow and threw my own punch, but he faded out of view, teleporting away.
I pivoted and fired a Hard Knuckle, but he teleported again, this time just off to my right, throwing another one of his oversized fists at me. I don’t think he was ready for me to dodge it, or to return with my one remaining fist and slam it home into his face. The bureaucratic model slid backwards, but didn’t relent in his attack, slamming one massive arm down on my back and forcing me to my knees. My hand came back, sliding back into place, and I used it to steady myself and stand back up, only to be rewarded with another heavy blow to the side of my head. I staggered, but could see clearly enough to reach out and grab his shoulders before he teleported away again.
I didn’t even hesitate as I slammed my head into his chest, and that stunned him long enough for me to brace myself and launch both Hard Knuckles, making him fly backwards and crashing into Hades’s leg. A barrage of needles from Needlegal perforated the rest of the monster, who collapsed to the floor with the final, strangled note from the now fully destroyed organ.
