Chapter XI: Zomburbia's Salvation

73 2 13
                                    

The five zombies stared down the staircase. It was steep.

Well. It was now or never.

Astrophelle took the first step, only to be hit by that wave of malicious Cora again.

Keep.. going..!

For.. them..!

For us!

The sense of will power that'd gone to lying dormant resurfaced. He latched onto it and refused to let go, using it as a tool to push through the Cora.

Still, he was moving at an excruciatingly slow pace. It didn't take long for Astrophelle to feel someone against his back, helping him move along.

"We're in this together, Churro..!" Lloyd was straining, but held a smile despite it. Astrophelle admired that about him.

"Let's finish this, Altalune!" Zephyr was behind Lloyd. They formed a line, with Elliot in the back, and pushed and pushed until they broke through the suffocating surface of the dark signature. They were all sent tumbling down the stairs.

"Too much..?" Elliot chuckled, rubbing his head. He helped everyone get to their feet.

It was then that Astrophelle could take in his surroundings. The room they were in was dark, lit by nothing except for the bright portal at the farthest wall. As a matter of fact, there were two portals, one of them being off. The other had Zomboss fiddling with something on the terminal.

Astrophelle aimed and fired at the terminal, just missing Zomboss' finger. It was fried in an instant.

"There's no escape, Zomboss." Astrophelle growled. "You will answer for your crimes."

Zomboss turned to face them. It was then that he bubbled up with maniacal laughter. "Crimes.. Crimes?! You're nothing more than mistakes! My goal is to build a perfect society. One that no plants, or imperfect zombies are allowed in."

"So that's it, then?" Zephyr stepped forward. "We're just your—your failed experiments."

"Zephyr Astaku. I've longed to get rid of you." Zomboss was holding something in his hand. Was it.. a remote control? "You were all prototypes. I thank you in particular, Astrophelle. I know now of the formula of creating the perfect soldier—to never make them too smart for their own good."

"Zomboss.. your twisted view of perfection is just someone who can follow orders without questions." Astrophelle tightened his grip on the umbrella. "All you want is for everyone to bend your whims, to fulfill your every command. You realized you failed the moment you discovered a zombie Gembearer had arisen, and tried to abandon it all in hopes of starting again. There's no need to fret about that anymore. You will be stopped, here and now."

Zomboss grimaced. He pressed a button on his remote, and the room began to shake.

"What the..?!" Valerie gasped when the floor opened to reveal a large mechanism beneath it. Slowly, a platform rose it from beneath. It was towering, and all things menacing. It was none other than Doctor Zomboss' Zombot.

So this is why he was held up. Astrophelle bore witness to Zomboss climbing inside the Zombot, assuming direct control of it. The Zombot is far too big to fit in the portal, but he wished to find a way to bring it anyway. He was messing with the terminal in search of that option, I presume.

The platform stopped, but the Zombot didn't. The ground fumbled again, this time due to the thrusters on the Zombot. "Hurry!" Zephyr alerted them. The team scrambled to grab onto the Zombot. Zephyr jumped on his wand, and extended a hand for Astrophelle to join him.

You'll also like

          

Astrophelle was on in an instant, and with the others secured themselves on the Zombot's limbs before it rocketed into the air.

Zephyr, with Astrophelle on the end of the wand, followed it closely behind. The Zombot stopped when it reached the roof of the Lab.

He isn't running.

Zephyr flew them high enough to get a bird's eye view of everything. The moon was beginning to sink beneath the horizon, signifying first light was soon.

Lloyd, Elliot and Valerie were off the Zombot and facing it on the roof. Lloyd launched the first attack. He summoned his hammer, throwing it at the glass part of the Zombot, only for the arm to shield it. Valerie used Weaving in an attempt to bring the hand down, but the silk broke easily. Elliot sort of just stood there.

From the air, Astrophelle fired a laser at the Zombot's arm. It barely left a mark.

"None of our attacks are working," Zephyr stated the obvious. He floated them down to join the other three on the roof. "We'll need to try a different approach," Astrophelle said.

"What are you thinking, Cap'n?" Elliot asked. "I'm not sure yet, but we'll come up with something," Astrophelle replied. "For now, remain on the defensive."

"Right!" Lloyd nodded. It was the Zombot's turn to attack now. It leaned down and opened its mouth. A large ball of fire emerged, rolling towards them. "Whoa!" Elliot yelled. Zephyr said nope and rode right back into the sky. "Wait for us!" Valerie said, using Weaving to grab ahold of the wand. She hoisted herself up, dangling from the wand like a spider from the ceiling.

She held her hand out to Lloyd, who took it, but not without grabbing Elliot by the cape. And of course, Elliot completed the chain by grasping Astrophelle. "The wand can't take this much weight!" Zephyr shouted. "Can't you enchant it to do just that?!" Valerie hollered back, as the fireball was nearing, but they weren't going any higher.

Zephyr shook his head.

He doesn't believe he can, Astrophelle realized. Is he.. afraid?

The only reason why Charm worked so well in Zephyr's favor was because he was so confident in himself. A rare occasion, to see Zephyr Astaku lacking in confidence—especially in the one moment they absolutely needed him to be. "It's been fun, you guys!" Elliot was already saying goodbyes. "I'm glad I got the chance to meet all of you!"

Lloyd's voice was the last thing to grace Astrophelle's ears other than the sizzling of the fireball.

...

...

Astrophelle opened his eyes. He wanted to melt with relief when he saw the fireball was completely frozen. Above him, Lloyd still had his mitten extended, looking like all of the Cora had been sucked dry of him.

"Yes, Lloyd, you beautiful angel!" Valerie thanked him. The fireball wasn't the only thing that got frozen—the Zombot was as well!

"Lloyd's given us an opening, everyone!" Astrophelle announced with renewed energy. Zephyr hovered them back to the ground, where they charged the Zombot. Inside the glass, Astrophelle could see Zomboss mashing buttons in hopes of getting the Zombot to move again.

They damaged the Zombot with an onslaught of attacks until it was able to move again. The glass on the top had sustained a crack, but no further damage.

"Churro, I don't think.. I don't think I can go on.." Lloyd expressed. Right, that attack took everything out of him. He needed Cora, and quickly. Wait a second!

Golden: The CollectionWhere stories live. Discover now