Colin took one glance and gulped. "Not good."
Directly opposite them were Satrox and Tony, with one owl and two rock golems.
On the left, Viking and two other guards with about twenty bears between them. On the right, Silvero and Jack of All Trades, blocking the way to the 'fireplace'. They hadn't warped in any Comrades yet, but Colin felt sure that once they did, whatever they called would have serious power.
Judging from the way that Viking, Silvero and Jack looked at Satrox and his friends, it was clear that they weren't going to let them run around freely any more.
Silvero saw Lucy and barked a laugh. "You know, for a minute there, I was actually worried you'd bring the Forester down on us… but a band of mercenaries?"
Lucy growled. "Dad, Sekai Melody's just outside our door! If we don't release her brother…"
"Then the Republic will be responsible for the destruction of the last major trading port on the continent, and the people will turn their support to us." Silvero said. "We'll win the war by popular election. In a week, we'll have not just an airport, but a spaceport built and full control of Lamico will be ours."
"Sekai Melody is not part of the Republic!" Satrox barked.
"She's a daughter of House Melody." Silvero snorted. "Nobody can ignore that! Whatever their past, or how much she's distanced herself from them, she can't deny her birthright!"
"Then…" Lucy stared. "You arrested Sora… for… this?!"
"Hmm?" Silvero raised his eyebrows at her. "You sound surprised."
"I thought it was because… he and I…" Lucy trailed off.
"That too." Silvero said. "But I couldn't let an opportunity like this pass by, could I? A chance to end the war on our own plans and stratagems! Not by some outside help or some new forester's brute force, but popularly chosen by the very people of this land! It's perfect!"
"But it's not your own plans and stratagems." Satrox said in a growl. "I smell the Underground in this."
"It's just business." Jack of All Trades said smoothly. "But I'm amazed that this little ploy actually managed to drag such big fish into the nets. Silvero, we have more than Sekai to be held responsible here. We have the Younger Sage himself!"
He recognized Satrox?! Colin gaped.
"The Sage of the Ancient Ways?!" Silvero blinked. "You?"
Satrox said nothing.
"Oh, come now. I'm using a state-of-the-art thermal sensor with your heat signatures quite easily recognized. You can't fool me with your disguise." Jack told Satrox candidly. "I like the new look, by the way, but the reputation of the J-Knights is just about to take a dive."
"The J-Knights are not involved in this." Satrox said grimly.
"Oh, I'd imagine not, or else, we'd have the doors broken down by now." Jack said airily. "Still… the regional commander did show up in person to break a spy out of jail."
"Did I? Or was I trailing a wanted criminal?" Satrox shot right back. "I heard one of the Underground's leaders was around. I should bring him in."
Jack laughed. "Fair enough. Let's call it even, then, and take our fight elsewhere… or shall I call your bluff?"
Jack moved so fast, Colin almost didn't see him. In a single bound, he leapt to an upper balcony.
Satrox gave Colin a swift, meaningful glance, and darted after him.
[I know what that glance means.] Colin sighed.
[Let me guess. "I leave the rest to you"?] Kyubia whuffed.
[Obvious, isn't it?]
Lucy's face was red when Colin turned to her. Her eyes were wild. "Charge!"
"What?!" Colin blinked.
"We rescue Sora! Attack!" Lucy ordered.
"As the boss commands." Ginny grimaced.
They charged.
***
It took ten seconds for Colin to figure out why everyone was in such a hurry to start fighting.
Tony moved first, sending his golems after Viking's left-most friend and his bears. Ginny was only a little slower, going straight for Viking himself, leaving Viking's right-most friend for Katrin, who wasn't far behind.
Everyone's crowding up that side of the room. There's no more space to get involved. Colin turned to the other side of the room. Which means…
Silvero Earnest stood there, waiting, watching him with his hand already on his badge, prepared to warp in whatever Comrade he wished to deal with whichever Comrade Colin threw at him.
{This,} Colin realized, {is why they all ran to fight those guards.}
None of them wanted to face Silvero. Even with Lucy's help, facing the head of House Earnest was a really daunting prospect.
"We'll take him from both sides." Lucy told Colin, glaring at her father. "Unless you can…?"
"Leave my… other friends out of this." Colin said grimly. I'm not going to call the Forest Wilds into this battle.
Still… maybe, just maybe, he might warp in Shiro or some of his other Comrades, if things became too rough.
But Lucy shook her head. "That's not what I meant. Can't you feel it? There's a barrier around the Mansion. You can't warp in a thing. I was about to ask if you can deal with my father alone while I go after Sora."
Another terribly loud BOOM from outside reminded Colin that they didn't have all the time in the world.
"I'll try to hold him as long as I can." Colin gritted his teeth. "You get Sora and stop Sekai! Hurry!"
Silvero snorted. "If you think I'm going to let…"
[Sonia!] Colin called with his mind.
Sonia struck, scything in from the left in a green streak, aiming for Silvero's arm.
"Qualta!" Silvero called, and a giant white crab appeared, big enough for Silvero to lie down on and spread his arms wide.
They couldn't warp anything in from outside the Mansion, but Silvero's Comrades were probably already somewhere inside it. He could warp in whatever he wanted.
[Oh, cripes. I'm in trouble.] Colin realized. [Foxie!]
The White Streak Fox charged in from the right.
"Drummer!" a Polar Bear about the same size as the crab appeared and slammed a claw in front of Foxie, growling.
"Thanks!" Lucy shouted.
Colin blinked, surprised to see her already behind Silvero and dashing into the fireplace. She slipped into the 'side' of it and vanished.
[She really knows how to use that whip.] Kyubia sounded impressed. She was looking up at the chandelier above, still swinging from Lucy's little trick with the whip.
"Slick!" Silvero shouted.
He wasn't complimenting Lucy's move. He was warping in a Comrade named 'Slick'. This one was a silvery Cluster Twig Lizard. Silvero pointed to Lucy. "Get her!"
[Kyubia!] Colin thought, and Kyubia changed sizes and shape as she leapt off his shoulder, suddenly looking exactly like Silvero himself as she lunged to stop Slick.
Slick saw 'Silvero' step in front of him and say "Stop!" and blinked at 'him' in confusion.
The real Silvero, meanwhile, looked at Colin angrily and then realized the same thing Colin did.
[I've run out of Comrades. If he sends even one more out, I won't have any Comrades left to send against it.]
Silvero smiled. "Yetiso."
And before Colin appeared what looked like a broad giant white monkey.
"Uhoh." Colin managed.
"Get him." Silvero pointed directly at Colin.
{If I die, my Comrades and I will all respawn at my Outpost Base.} Colin realized. {I need to buy time for Lucy to reach Sora! I have to hold out, and survive this as long as I can!}
"Someone spare me some help here?" Colin called to the others.
"Sorry, we're a little busy right now!" Katrin's voice floated back to him, sounding rather strained.
Nope. No help from the others. He'd have to do this himself.
Colin gritted his teeth as Yetiso charged at him and extended his staff. As the big monkey roared and made its attack run, he jumped out of the way.
Yetiso crashed into the big table and overturned the whole thing. Colin gulped. {I have to keep avoiding it. I do NOT want to face that thing head-on.}
He started running.
"Shea!" Silvero called and a silver cat, a cheetah, probably, appeared right beside him. "Get him!"
Shea was blindingly fast. Colin barely managed to jump away before that silver cat slashed past.
Yetiso, meanwhile, closed in from the other side.
[Kyubia! Can you DO something?!] Colin called.
Kyubia, looking and sounding exactly like Silvero, had Slick hopping on one foot and pulling his tail up and down thinking it was Silvero commanding it all. She called to Yetiso, "Attack Shea!" and to Shea, "Attack Yetiso!"
Shea and Yetiso blinked at 'Silvero' and then at each other, then scratched their heads.
"What the…?!" Silvero suddenly noticed whose face and voice Kyubia had taken. "That's not me! Attack the boy!"
Faced with two Silveros giving different orders, Yetiso and Shea hesitated.
Kyubia turned to where Drummer was chasing Foxie in circles and said, "Drummer! Get over here and stop Qualta!"
Qualta spun from where it had been fighting Sonia and got bitten in the left claw for it.
"Qualta!" Kyubia called in Silvero's voice. "Attack Drummer!"
"Stop! Everyone, just STOP!" Silvero shouted.
"Stand down!" Colin told his own Comrades. If Silvero called a stop, that meant more time for Lucy, and he didn't want his Comrades' attacks to provoke Silvero's Comrades into action again.
Silvero looked at Kyubia with a scowl, and said, "Guess I'll have to do this myself."
He drew a sword; long, thin and very sharp looking.
{He's going to come straight for me.} Colin realized. {He'll try to kill me himself, so that I and my Comrades will disappear. If I call my Comrades to attack him, his Comrades will know he's the real Silvero and he can send them to chase Lucy without anything in their way. I need to leave them where they are, as they are.}
{In other words…} Colin grimaced, and fell into a fighting stance. {I'll have to fight Silvero myself.}
Silvero took his own stance, twisting to one side, holding his sword low, pointed right at Colin. His other hand fell to his hip.
{Fencing. He's going to keep things simple but really efficient. It's suicide in a pitch battle, but in a duel, it's seriously effective.}
Colin darted to one side. {My staff is longer, but it's not a spear. Poking at him won't help much, and even if I did, he'd deflect it with his blade. But if I can outflank him, attack from his side…}
Silvero spun around in place, keeping Colin in front of him. {That way, he only needs to be concerned about what's ahead, only about attack and defense from one front and very few angles. I'm wasting energy trying to get around him; he's simply going to spin in place.}
Colin growled, closing in on his circle. {But I have momentum. If I can catch him off guard with a power stroke…}
But he was using a staff, not a sword. That extra length slowed down his stroke, reducing his power as he brought it sharply against Silvero's rapier.
Silvero relaxed his wrist, tightened his grip, and let Colin's staff hammer his rapier to one side without knocking it out of his hand. Then, he lunged forward to stab at Colin.
Colin avoided it with a twist and counter-lunged. {This is my only chance! If I drag it out too long, I'm going to tire long before he does!}
Silvero's eyes went wide as Colin smashed the butt end of the staff into his face. He stumbled back, while Colin landed and used the reverse end of the staff to clobber him behind the head, and then followed up from both ends of the staff, swinging left and right as hard and as fast as he could, bashing into Silvero desperately hoping to at least knock him out before Silvero recovered and killed him for sure.
Silvero's foot smashed Colin in the stomach, sending him flying back five feet and skidding over the floor. "Oof!"
White sparks danced around the edge of his vision, but Colin saw Silvero collapse even as he himself struggled to get up.
Then he vanished. Colin blinked. "Where did he go…?"
He looked around worriedly, afraid that Silvero had some sort of cloaking device and was startled to see that Silvero's Comrades, too, had disappeared. "What happened?"
[You killed him. He's respawning back at his Starting Location. His private quarters, probably.] Kyubia guessed, returning to her own shape and form.
[I… killed him…? I won?!] Colin stared.
Kyubia shrugged. [Winning a punching match with an old man who fights his battles from a couch is not something to be too proud of. Actually, I think it's more like he killed himself. That last kick he gave you seemed to have done something to him.]
"Great." Colin leaned back with a sigh, putting a hand to his head. He glanced at where Katrin, Tony and Ginny were still fighting Viking and the guards and figured, "I think they can handle things without me. I need a break."
As if those words were a signal, the moment he finished saying it, the entire roof was smashed away and Colin found himself looking up at Sekai Melody, sitting comfortably on one of Yggdrasil's branches. {Oh cripes.}
{Lucy! Where is Lucy?! Has she found Sora yet?! Is he all right? If he's been tortured…!If she finds out he's been tortured…!}
Colin could already see Sekai wiping out the Protectorate as easily as he had wiped out the Union.
Katrin and all the others stopped fighting to stare up at her through the hole that used to contain the ceiling.
Sekai was smiling down at them, but for some reason, her smile wasn't very nice at all.
"Now that I have your attention…" she said sweetly. "Tell me. Where's my brother?"
Everybody started running.