Ch. 16 Rescue in the Ruins

[Jet]

Jody didn't have much time to spend observing her allies battle, there was nearly one sludge monster for each one of the resistance forces and she had to defend immediately. Sludgy fists battered her new shield and forced her to back up into the wall. Still, she had to fight back and the glowing red eye, or core, or whatever it was seemed like the best target. She slashed her sword at the red target but it floated away to a different point in the monster's body, and her sword passed right through the liquid. Until it began to thicken around her sword, making it harder to move and difficult to pull free. She tugged as hard as she could but it would not come loose. She was forced to leave it behind when the devil formed a massive fist and prepared to break her face with it. As she backed off the creature let its density return to normal and the sword dropped into the water.

The monster's great red eye was still fixated on her however, it hadn't switched targets. Jody backed away slowly, she was out of immediate striking distance and the thing didn't look very fast. Maybe if one of her allies could distract it she could slip around it and retrieve her weapon. As she formed her plan however the rainbow devil recoiled into itself and pulsated, becoming more of a blob than a humanoid shape. Then it launched itself through the air, a huge face as big as her body with rows of razor sharp teeth. Instinctively she raised her shield to deflect the attack... and the face splattered against it and lost its form. Now it was just slime on the ground.

Jody spotted movement though, the red eye was bouncing from puddle to puddle trying to reform. Jody dashed over to it, dropped to her knees in a slide and brought the edge of her shield down on the red sphere. It made a sort of pained squeal and hopped away with renewed vigor. Jody chased after it, swatting with her shield and hoping to slow it down. At one point she managed to trap it under the shield but the eye/core was too slippery and squirmed loose, disappearing into the darkness. There were still other devils to fight however. Jody retrieved her sword and sized up the situation.

Her allies were having some success, Rai had managed to pull the core out of the liquid body by using his chain rod. And Andraia had been able to temporarily immobilize the devils with her buster but she looked like she needed help finishing the job. Jody hurried over to her side just as another devil came at her. Andraia fired another shot from her buster to stun the monster, and in that time Jody attacked with a leaping strike from her sword and cleaved the pulsating red core in two. The devil's body broke apart and splashed to their feet like water. That was at least two down, but there were at least two devils still up that Jody could see, and possibly more blending in with the water.

Rai got pummeled by one of the devils and crash landed near Jody and Andraia. He muttered something about freezing them but before Jody could say anything or help him up her legs were taken out from under her and she landed beside him with a splash. One of the devils rose out of the water in front of them and began churning its body like a milkshake in a blender. After building up speed it began launching parts of its body throughout the chamber. One of them landed near Jody's head giving her a good look at the black metal package contained inside the water droplet.

"Bomb," she cried, rolling away and putting her shield in between the explosive and herself. The blast went off but her shield protected Rai and herself from harm, though it did cause a small wave of water to wash over them. She was thoroughly soaked now and ready to leave the temple. She looked around scanning for immediate danger, there were again the two devils that she could see and at least one for sure under the surface. Somehow Stark and Raven had been separated from the group, and with them was that resistance soldier they'd found. He was doing alright, still had his weapon and was firing at the devils from behind Stark, though his shots didn't seem to be doing any damage. It did however attract the attention of another devil, one that swam up next to him unseen and dragged him under the water.