Darius hurried through the hallways, following the sensors Ida had activated on her way through. Ned was close behind him, jumping at every little sound the ship made.
When they finally caught up to her, she was outside the central area of the Underwing, her arms folded and her foot tapping impatiently. She glared at them and motioned Darius over, then put her hand on the palm scanner.
"Lift me up so it can scan my eye," she said, motioning for him to hurry. "And Ned, what did I tell you to do?"
"He's here to help," Darius said firmly, lifting Ida up so she was at eye level with the scanner. She held her eyelid open, then the machine beeped and the door unlocked.
"You really think he's going to do anything but cause problems? Ned, go to your room and stay there this time."
"Ned is coming," Darius said firmly. "And why are you going into the core?"
Ida didn't reply. Instead she just flung the door open and walked in, her senses on high alert.
Then Darius saw them. Four figures standing next to the reactor, staring at the control panel. He'd recognize Corrosion, Paris and Ferry anywhere. As for the fourth...
Yes. She had been involved in some stuff up top. A skilled mercenary of sorts. Why were they here?
"Why didn't you get an instruction manual with those plans?" the woman said, glaring at Ferry.
"Hey, how were we supposed to know it would be so outdated? Most stuff is really intuitive." Ferry frowned at the console and sighed. "Well, we found it so I'll go let Twin know to contact the military. Be back in a minute."
With that, she vanished and Darius noticed Ida glaring at the spot she'd been.
Darius carefully moved in front of Ida, planning to shield her if it came down to it. He didn't know how she'd realized something was off in the core, but it was good that they'd be able to handle it.
"Can I please just melt it?" Corrosion asked, looking bored out of his mind.
"Later," Paris said.
"No." The woman's reply came simultaneously, and she glared at Paris.
A layer of yellow energy moved to cover her hand, ending in sharp claws at her fingertips.
"Do you really want to kill every one of us? This is a threat for money and influence. Call it a coup. But it won't amount to jack shit if you screw up and kill every single one of us. Isn't this thing basically the crux everything sits on? We have no idea how delicate it is."
"Come on. Would they really make everything so easy to destroy?" Paris asked with a laugh. "I'm sure there are backups and whatnot."
Darius couldn't let them continue. If they weren't stopped, things could go very very badly.
"Cease and step away from the reactor controls," he said firmly, stepping forward. Ida slid away from him, hiding behind the reactor where Team Chaos couldn't see her. He could also sense Ned in the doorway behind him.
"The heck?" Paris asked, jumping at the newcomer. "Who're you supposed to be?"
"I am Darius, manager of Arx Nubibus among other things." If he made himself sound more important, maybe they'd listen to him more. Even if the manager role technically belonged to Odin.
Wait. Darius had shut down everything Odin could do, so that did make him the manager/overseer of Arx Nubibus. He pushed the thought aside and decided to focus on convincing Team Chaos to step down.
"Step away from the reactor controls," he repeated himself. "If you turn it off, there won't be any way to turn it back on. Without power, the city won't be able to maintain altitude, leading to a crash landing either on land or in the ocean. Both would be fatal to the entire city's population."
Technically Miracles like Joey's might let him survive if they crashed on land, but Darius didn't have enough data to say for sure. Presenting a worst-case scenario would surely make them see sense, though.
"Cool. So how do we turn it off?" Corrosion asked with a grin, holding a hand over the console.
"Step away," Darius repeated coldly. "You'll die too."
"I don't care," Corrosion replied with a laugh. "Hey, would it turn off if I burned a hole in this thing? Or maybe we should get Wild Claw to smash it."
"I will do no such thing," the woman said firmly. "When's Ferry getting back?"
"Fine. If you won't, I will." Corrosion grabbed a pipe from his waist and leaned back, ready to smash the console.
"Stop!" Paris cried, reaching for Corrosion, but he wouldn't make it in time.
Why would Corrosion doom everyone, himself included? What sort of thought process would lead to that conclusion? Had Darius' interference only made things worse? Would there be a good way to save the ship if the reactor did give out?
Questions and scenarios flickered through Darius' head at nearly the speed of light, but his body wouldn't move fast enough to stop Corrosion.
The pipe reached the apex of its arc.
And then a pop echoed through the room.
One moment.
No one moved.
Corrosion went limp, a perfect hole in the back of his head, next to the brain stem.
As he fell, looks of shock moved across Wild Claw and Paris' faces.
A click.
Darius glanced to his side, where Ida was reloading a gun.
Where had she gotten a gun?
She finished reloading and adjusted her grip, preparing to fire again.
Wild Claw noticed the threat and ran towards her.
Darius couldn't let Ida kill.
He moved towards her, grabbing her arm before she could properly aim.
"No, Ida!" His plea made her grimace as she tried to rip her hands from his grasp.
The gun was pointed at the floor.
Wild Claw made it to them, raising her Miracle powered hand.
Ida managed to fight Darius off.
And Wild Claw's Miracle caved in the girl's skull.
Darius froze as Ida collapsed, blood pooling around her head. He could see inside her head.
Wild Claw gasped for breath and grabbed the gun, then stepped back and pointed it at Darius.
"Leave us be," she said. "Don't move or I'll shoot. I'll turn you into minced meat just like her."
Darius couldn't process her words. Couldn't process Ferry's return, and her shock at what she'd come back to.
Only one thing mattered.
Ida was dead.
And his newborn heart shattered into pieces.
