The Awakening

I land hard on my back in the pit, driving the wind out of me. As the transport helicopter carrying the Idol begins to drift closer to the pit while blaring that obnoxious noise, Naiberg quickly makes himself scarce to avoid being inadvertently stunned by the Idol. That's one less worry for me to deal with now, but I am in no position to relax just yet. Before I can get my bearings, Castiel marches over to me and flips me over on my belly. He then locks both my arms behind my back and wedges his knee against my face.

"Not one more word out of you blackguard." Castiel says as he forces my body down against the ground with his considerable strength, "You've caused enough harm today."

It might not look like he's doing much, but if it wasn't for the artificial core protecting me, I would have been turned into pancake thanks to the ridiculous amount of force that guy is exerting. I squirm about in an attempt to shake him off me, but I just don't have the leverage to manage it. Castiel grinds his knee against my face in response and soon I am eating dirt, literally.

"Tensei! Help!" Brocon shouts at the top of her voice. Someone's sounding really desperate.

I manage to pull my head up from the ground and see the Perfecta slowly crawling back up to its feet and hands. The Perfecta's attention may be wholly fixed on Michael and I, but it has no intention of letting Brocon go. The forest of limbs begins to pull Brocon towards one of the Perfecta's gnashing maws. Brocon resists, blasting away at the monster with lightning, but other than a giving rise to a faint scent of cooking meat, accomplishes absolutely nothing useful.

"Rose! Calm down!" Michael shouts, "Struggling will only make things worse! Your armor will protect you against the Alpha One's digestive juices. Let Kira stun it and then we can cut you out!"

The Hero stares at the scene from the edge of the pit above us with a fevered look on his face, clearly undecided on whether to jump down here to save the day or heed Castiel's advise. I just need to give him a little push in the right direction and this show will be back on the road.

Mind blast. I need to save Brocon.

"Tensei!" Castiel shouts, "Don't come in here until I give the signal! We can save Rose, but you need to listen to me!"

"But, but ..." the Hero blubbers like a moron, his determination to jump into the pit clearly wavering. Shit, is he actually listening to the Incarnate?

"Provoking the Incarnate now guarantees that Rose'll be hurt!" Castiel urges, "You must be patient and let Kira do her part!"

The Hero nods and dismisses his spirit sword. Damn, he is completely ignoring my mental commands. Worse still, Castiel is being proven right. The Idol's song is already having an effect on the Perfecta, the beast's movements already growing sluggish and unfocused. At this development, Brocon calms down as well and stops attacking the Perfecta. Instead she shuts her eyes, awaiting her rescue by the Hero.

"You do realize that your armor does not have a helmet right?" I pipe up, addressing Brocon, "I doubt you can survive without a head."

Its strange. No one of importance in this world wears protective headgear. Not the Hero. Not the Heroines. Not Big Tits. Even the Loli vampire and Nicky don't wear helmets when they fight. I have absolutely no idea why. Brocon's eyes snap open with alarm upon hearing my comment but before she can begin struggling again, Castiel addresses her.

"The armor is enchanted allowing the protection to extend to your head!" Castiel elaborates, "Gallant wants you to bait the Alpha One into fighting. Don't listen to him."

At this moment the Hero is joined by Big Tits at the edge of the pit. Big Tits surveys the scene in front of us, concern filling her eyes.

"That's right. Representative Michael is telling the truth." Big Tits reassures, "The armor will protect your entire body. We will get you out of there in a jiffy."

Brocon smiles at this piece of news and goes back to closing her eyes and waiting for the Perfecta to cease its movements. By now the Perfecta has lost interest in Brocon and can barely keep its eyes open. I need to do something to rouse it, otherwise this mission will be a complete wash.

"Damn. I feel pretty stupid now." I grumble while Castiel twists my arms hard in a vain attempt at breaking them.

"I told you to be quiet." he hisses at me angrily.

I roll my eyes and reply, "Why should I? Its not as if you can actually hurt me. Come to think of it, can we even hurt each other?"

"You will face justice blackguard, of that I can assure you." Castiel whispers, "An eternity of imprisonment is worse than death."

I flare my core, hoping that the Perfecta will take notice and get all aggressive once again. Unfortunately, the monster barely moves its eyes in my direction. Without someone actually attacking the Perfecta to keep it awake, the beast simply cannot scrape up the interest to go after me while resisting the Idol's magic.

"You're wrong about something." I shoot back at Castiel who doesn't bother to humor me, merely continuing to shove his knee into my face.

"I don't actually need to make physical contact to use Damavand." I say just before circulating the artificial core's power and unleashing it in a torrent against the Perfecta.

The Perfecta's flabby mass quivers like a huge pile of jelly the moment it is struck by Damavand and malicious alertness returns to the monster's eyes. The Perfecta shakes itself like a wet dog as it easily resists the effects of my spell, forcing me to quickly break off my attack before I get hit with the incoming back lash fueled by the Perfecta's own spirituality. The monster stamps its limbs in fury and once again tightens its grip on Brocon, determined to have its meal.

My mind boggles as the the skin on the Perfecta's back splits open, forming a massive mouth lined with blunt fangs. The arms of the monster lift the now panicking Brocon up and pushes her inexorably into the gaping orifice. Brocon flails about wildly to no avail as tears run down her cheeks.

"Help! Someone please, help!" Brocon cries as she gradually disappears into the horrific maw on the creature's back.

The Perfecta focuses its spirit core and sends power throughout its entire form. The beast's body shudders and with an earthshaking groan, the Perfecta begins to grow in size, its limbs stretching and the rest of its bulk slowly filling the entire pit. The individual faces that originally lined the Perfecta's body lose their definition and disappear as the Perfecta's size keeps increasing.

Small pimples sprout all over the surface of that trembling mass of flesh and with a chorus of pops, the pimples break open with a shower of pus, each revealing a bloodshot eye within. The eyes relentlessly scan the entirety of the pit and eventually fall on both Castiel and I. The Perfecta makes a low growl from somewhere deep within and begins to advance towards us again, its body heaving with sweat that exudes a sour, salty smell.

Castiel curses under his breath and his weight against my body abruptly lifts. As I get back up to my feet, I see Castiel flaring his own core and manifesting a pair of golden wings from his back. With a powerful beat of those wings, Castiel lifts off from the ground, shooting upwards towards the sky just as the Perfecta's arms reach out towards both of us.

The Perfecta makes an annoyed noise and one of its arms snaps outwards like a whip, the open palm outstretched. The palm slams into the wall of the pit, crushing Castiel like a bug against a newspaper. Castiel tumbles back downwards to where I am, his golden wings dissipating into the ether while the crimson mesh on his body crackles defiantly. Before either of us can react, we are scooped up by the grasping hands of the Perfecta. I struggle as best as I can, striking the incoming arms and batting them aside, but the world is suddenly flipped over as the Perfecta grabs me by the legs and holds me upside down.

I am lifted towards the obscene mouth on the Perfecta's back just in time to see Brocon disappear into the slobbering void. Glancing to the side, I see that Castiel has been grabbed by the waist with both of his arms pinned to the side. The Incarnate's face is a picture of concentration as he tries to break out of the Perfecta's grip to no avail. I pull out a flash bang and aim for the eyes of the monster, but before I can make my move, a wave of pressure washes over the entire pit, eliciting a groan from both Castiel and I.

Its powerful. Not only was that wave of pressure strong enough to cause physical discomfort, its also intense enough to divert the Perfecta's attention from both of us. The arms carrying Castiel and I release their grip over us and we fall on to the slick skin of the Perfecta. The monster's other arms press down, holding the two of us fast, while the Perfecta turns its attention to whatever caused that blast of spiritual pressure.

"No." Castiel moans in distress, "How can he grow so quickly?"

I turn my head and see the Hero standing at the edge of the pit, his core positively erupting with power. Another pulse of pressure from the Hero crashes against the Perfecta and it snarls in agitation. Big Tits stares stupidly in amazement at the Hero, her jaw hanging loose. The Hero flexes his right arm and a jet black spirit sword forms in his hand, radiating menace.

"Yes." The Voice rasps, "Finally. The time has come at last."

I immediately understand what's going on. "Awakened. The Hero has fully awakened." I breathe. Castiel lets out another groan in response to my statement.

The Hero points the ebony sword straight at the Perfecta, resolve burning in his eyes.

And without hesitation, he lunges into the pit.