Rising Shards

A splash of gold sparkles in front of us caught my attention. The Sharai vehicle that passed by had two of Chumblerosa’s slot machines crudely roped on, and tokens fell out with each turn.

“They must’ve really liked the gambling,” Oka said.

“What do we do about the others, Dr. Diast?” I asked. “I’d say ram them, but that would probably be really scary for us in here. And dangerous. I actually wouldn't say ram them in any circumstance now that I think about it.”

“Well, Caya will probably blow up plenty on her road,” Diast said. “I’m just trying to avoid these freaks.”

Diast figured out that there were four tracks around the charging station. Our car was on the furthest out, Caya’s was on the one next to it, Kitty’s was on the one after that, and Kalei’s was on the one closest.

“These guys are just going to be doing laps to build up as much energy as possible,” Diast said. “We just have to follow the roads until we get to the center and hopefully put a stop to all this. Alright, not hopefully, this has to be it.”

“Yeah,” I said quietly, it sinking in a bit that Jeans presently sat on a throne above us.

“We beat her before,” Oka said, reading my expression all too well. “We’ll get Kalei and the others, smash this stupid thing, and get out of here.”

I nodded just as Caya hit two Sharai cars on her road with an energy blast, igniting them in a beautiful but very very eardrum rattling explosion that made me scream.

“My apologies if that was loud,” Caya said. “I hate getting hypnotized, and am taking my aggressions out against the Sharai.”

“Well, there aren’t many better ways to get your aggressions out than…whatever the hell we’re doing here.” Diast said.

“Heads up, if we mute you guys, it’s cuz Zates’ screaming is just brutal over the comms.” Kalei said.

“Hey!” I said. “OK, but like think of the situation here! This is pretty scary!” 

“Remind me to never see a horror movie with you.” Kalei said.

I was gonna snap back, but a giggle escaped my lips instead. 

“What?” Kalei asked.

“I actually really missed the snark.” I admitted.

“It’s been what, a day?” Kalei said. “Can you really miss someone that much in just a day?”

“Well, we did.” Oka said.

“It’s only been a few hours and I missed Lillia so bad,” Ko said. “That’s even less than a day.”

“I missed you too.” Lillia said.

“Heh.” Ko said.

“Not to talk over the nice moments, but are these guys gonna care that Caya is super killing them?” Marmalade asked. “Like is that going to mess with whatever plan we’re clearly putting so much brainpower into mapping out before we enact it?”

“Knowing what we’ve learned about the Sharai, wanton violence between each other for the grunt groups like these is probably common.” Lillia said.

“So if the explosions of their fellow…guys? Is normal. Then…” Marmalade started.

A group of Sharai revved their engines behind us. It looked like three were bounding down on us.

“See? What’d I say!” Marmalade said. “Diast is driving like grandpa style. They’re gonna think we’re just their guys but like wimpier and easier to ram off of this water park!”

“I am not driving grandpa style, come on,” Diast said.

“You’re driving like my grandpa, at least,” Marmalade said. She pointed forward to the ticking sound up front. “You’re using your turn signal, like they care about turn signals! They’re gonna see that as a target and—”

I shrieked as one of the cars behind us tapped against our bumper.

“See?” Marmalade squeaked.

“Alright, it might get a bit bumpy here.” Diast said.

I yelped again as Dr. Diast accelerated. Two of the cars reached each side of us.

“Do you want us to like hit these guys?” Oka asked.

“Do these windows even roll down?” Lillia asked.

“I dunno,” Oka said, reaching behind her. “Ack! My stuff is gone!”

“I think they took our swords and bags when they grabbed us,” I said.

“Well now what?” Oka asked. “What if we had really important belongings with us? What if we need our bloodsabers?”

“If it’s really inaccessible, we tagged all the gear with, well, tags, that send em back home.” Diast said.

“We do?” Oka asked.

“We absolutely went over that in class.” Lillia said.

“We did?” Oka asked.

“Yes!” Diast said.

“Even if they’re like encased in amber or something like that?” I asked.

“Yep.” Diast said. “And for our bloodsabers the ol’ hold your hand out to summon them trick should work with them.”

“And we really went over this?” Oka asked.

“I think it was a ‘staring at Zeta’ class.” Lillia said.

“It was?” I asked.

“Y’all,” Diast said. “Please. Settle down a little.”

“I think I’ve earned some freaking out time,” Marmalade said. “Normally I’m chill! I’m pretty chill about a lot of things! But I can freak out here, because! I untied everyone and this is my first time going through like fourteen void nodes with the casino and the Kitty World, and also Kitty is here and I kind of want her autograph, and now this road-based monstrosity before us!” The two cars on our right and left bumped into us, rattling our vehicle. “And that! These guys! Long dead evil army! Like right there! Powering up a thing? Who the hell was that girl up on the castle throne? And also, we’re on a road-based monstrosity and could fall off at any second!”

Diast turned hard at a fork in the road, making us all scream as water sloshed upward. Two of the Sharai cars took the same path we did, while the third, the one trailing behind us, just forgot to turn entirely and drove straight off the side, looking like they were piloted by a kid playing with toy cars driving them off of a table.

“Damn,” Diast said.

“What?” I asked. “Are we screwed?”

“Missed my turn.” Diast said. “We’re gonna have to loop-de-loop. You guys ever see Highway Adventure Burst?”

“I’ve only seen posts about it…” I said, repeating what I told Diast earlier when she asked me.

“It’s on my list, but I haven’t seen it,” Marmalade said. “Is now really the time to talk anime from like fifteen years ago?”

“I was gonna reference a bit where they loop de looped, but since none of you have seen it…” Diast said. She floored it, cranking the steering wheel as we drove around a small junction that brought us back to the main path. The center area at the stretch of road was now just ahead. The two cars bumping us hadn’t lost interest though.

“Zeta, hold the wheel for like one second,” Diast said. “Maybe two.”

“What? Me? Are you serious?” I asked.

“You’re the closest!” Diast said. I was sitting right behind her. “It’s a straight road so you just have to hold it in place while I deal with these guys.”

“Can’t you just let go of the wheel if it’s just for a second?” I asked. “Or let us deal with these guys?”

“Fine, fine,” Diast said.

“No, wait, I can do it.” I said, suddenly feeling guilty that I couldn’t do one single, solitary thing Diast asked of me. From my position I was able to reach the steering wheel, which Diast still held onto until she was sure I really had it.

“Thanks, bud.” Diast said. She clapped her hands together then held her palms outward. The twin cars that had stayed with us rumbled for a second, before they fell apart in a flash, with parts and components scattering everywhere. The Sharai retention sprites piloting them stared in confusion as their vehicles were reduced to just the seats they sat on. They didn’t stay upward much longer as they tumbled into the water with a big splash. I sighed in relief as Diast took the wheel again.

“Good job, Zeta!” Oka said, pumping her fists in the air.

“I didn’t do a whole lot there…” I said.

“Nonsense, you kept the ship sailing.” Diast said.

There was just a bit of road left. Soon we’d be at the center platform, where 09 and the Sharai Daggers were waiting.