Jake glanced up at the monster and saw its head turning in their direction. Glaring over at Killgore and his lackeys he watched as they were surrounded by dark blue energy and started streaking away. They had a movement ability similar to Aero's. He was just glad it was flashy, it would hopefully draw the attention of the monster. Only as he watched they vanished. The air rippled like heatwaves making them visible, but only because he was staring right at them as they vanished.
Turning his gaze back on the monster he saw what he feared. It was now turning to face them. The sky around it seemed to grow darker as if it was sucking in all the light. In turn, its eyes began to glow a bright yellow.
"Fuck those fucking fucks… fuck." Gadget swore loudly.
Jake looked around with the others. There wasn't anywhere to hide out here. "Aero?" He asked, his voice strained.
"Can't. Still on cooldown." Aero too was looking around in vain. His movement boosting spell had a long cooldown that only started ticking after they all stopped.
"Under it then." Cass shouted as she pointed under the monster, already starting to run.
Jake started to open his mouth to say that was a terrible idea. What if it squashed them. Or they got stuck under it. But overhead the gigantic head opened its beak. Within it light glowed so intently it was visible through the flesh of its neck.
With no better idea, he just chased after his girlfriend. The others followed suit.
Jake quickly caught up to Cass and would have easily passed her. Amongst the group, he had the highest base speed. Scooping her up in a princess carry he was still leading the pack. One arm wrapped around his neck while the other held on to her rifle, keeping it from bouncing around too much. Gadget despite her short legs and the lowest speed of the group was right behind him. Her drones were pushing her from behind, her feet not even touching the ground as she rocketed forth. Ella came next then Aero in the rear.
Still, they would never make it. "GADGET!" Ella shouted out as the air hummed with building power they could feel even so far away.
"On it." She slowed down falling behind as one of her larger drones zipped off her back and away. Instead of deploying a weapon, it started blaring an alarm, strobe lights going off in blinding flashes. Sparks like a firework shot out as it spun away at top speed. Jake noticed it was heading in the same direction Killgore's group had vanished in and nodded in approval.
"I can't believe they are that stupid. They are going to get us killed." Jake growled over the group chat.
Panting and out of breath Ella replied. "That was probably the idea. Trying to train the monster on us. Assholes."
Jake started to reply but fell silent as off to their side the world turned into a newborn sun. A beam of pure destructive energy hit the distraction drone. The air turned sizzling hot and Jake would have been blinded if his helmet hadn't gone opaque to lessen the flash. Gadget slowed as more of her drones broke off to form a barrier on the side. It lessened the waves of heat enough to keep them from being blackened. Still, the drones overloaded and blew up. Luckily the blast lasted only a split second.
In the wake of that breath was a huge area of utter destruction. It cut right through the earth leaving a deep trail where it swept away behind them. The earth still glowed molten on the edges. If the drone had been just a little slower or released a few seconds later they might still have been caught in the blast.
Around them, the world seemed to grow brighter for a moment then started dimming again as the monster started to charge up a second time.
"Go go go." Jake dug in his toes as he rushed across the ground. He considered blinking but was unable to take anyone with him. Cass would be dropped if he blinked now. The air was starting to crackle and buzz with energy again. Ahead of them, the line of shadow denoted the area beneath the tortoise before the deep darkness of the hole beneath it opened up.
Jake didn't slow down in his mad charge until he passed into the shadow. Only then did he dig his feet in trying to bring himself to a stop before going off the edge into what looked like a bottomless pit of darkness. His legs strained as his toes dug into the ground. Dirt and rock flew like a wave around him as he managed to skid to a stop only a few inches from the edge. Dirt flew over the edge to fall silently into the darkness. His feet were planted in the rocky ground, buried to his ankles.
Behind him, another wave of searing hit rushed in as the tortoise fired off after them. It couldn't get an angle on them but the wave of energy was enough it felt like Jake was going to be cooked. He hunched his back trying to shield Cass in his arms from it, neither he nor she had any elemental resistance. At least Ella and Aero's armor afforded them some.
"Shit my ass is on fire!" The shout came right before Gadget smashed into the back of him. Her drones rocketed her forward without stop as she tried to get away from the searing wave. Jake teetered forward, his lower body straining to keep from falling forward. Gadget's drone still pushing her forward not helping. For a moment even with his arms full and Gadget being driven into him, he held. Then someone else crashed into them and together they all toppled over.
Darkness rushed up to meet them as they entered the huge crater the monster had emerged from. As terrifying as it was to free fall into that void, the huge pop up warning and buzzing alarms of entering a permadeath zone was worse.
Jake mentally shoved away the warning. His heart was pounding in his chest. If they fell to their deaths now… Cass clung to him, her arm around his neck turning into a death grip. His eyes darted around. Very close to their right stone appeared and rushed up passed them. Further away in all directions stone also rose up, it was as if they were falling through a giant shaft. Somewhere in his mind, Jake realized this was probably where the tortoise leg had been. There below him, he saw it. A darker section in the wall across from them to his left. It had to be a tunnel opening.
"Left!" He shouted, forgetting to use the group chat and trying to scream over the rushing air. He quickly shifted his grip on Cass as she clung to him. Holding her with one arm she wrapped her legs around his waist in a death grip. He would have probably had dirty thoughts about this position if he wasn't falling to his death at the moment.
Reaching out he managed to touch the wall beside him. His claws sheered right through the stone, it had no real impact on their speed but instead just rained down stone rubble. Still, he dug in his claws and then twisted to dig his feet into the wall as well. They slowed slightly, but not enough to stop them. That didn't matter, that wasn't his goal. He kicked off the wall and sailed across the gap of the hole right into the tunnel. Twisting mid air he landed feet first. The stone floor shattered beneath his armored feet making a small crater. His entire body went rigid as every muscle tensed, trying to stop him from falling. It only worked to lessen the impact. He topped forward and smashed his free fist into the ground stopping himself from crushing Cass who clung to him still.
Behind him, a roar of wind rose up and Aero appeared out of the darkness with Ella in his arms. He landed much softer than Jake had.
Gadget appeared after, her last remaining drones struggling to carry her up. "Fucking men. Leave me to fend for myself. Where is my prince charming to carry me out of the grip of sure death! This is why I like robots. More reliable." She landed and hugged her drone.
"You do seem like the type of woman that would enjoy batteries over real men." Gadget glared at the grinning Aero and flipped him off. Even in the very limited light coming from high above they could see a suspicious blush on the woman's face.
Jake was just about to ask for her to have one of her drones light up the area when the tunnel lit up. Eight small dark floating orbs circled them and between them projected a glowing dark blue energy field. It formed a sphere around the group. From the drop shaft emerged more glowing blue spheres, inside each was someone they recognized. Killgore touched down followed by the tall woman. As each of the Uniques landed several more floating orbs stopped orbiting them. The light barriers around them vanished and the orbs rushed over to join the ones surrounding Jake's group.
"You assholes almost got us killed." One of Gadget's small zap drones shot forward intent on zapping Killgore. It hit the energy field around them and exploded in flames.
"I wouldn't try anything. Spider's containment field handles B rank monsters with ease. You scrubs won't be a challenge." Killgore grinned his cruel eyes bright with reflected light as the little drone burned away.