The cavern was filled with the hiss of something cutting its way through the air rapidly followed by the sizzle of burning flesh. Jake toppled back with a gurgled cry. Then suddenly the arm tightened around his throat relaxed. Both Jake and the five eyed Grim landed on their backs. Jake rolled off the unmoving Grim and eyed the three needles of flame sizzling right between the eyes of the Grim. He glanced over at Nira who just glared at him with such hatred he could feel the heat of her gaze. Then she turned her gaze back on the Shaman.
Jake jumped up as the shaman howled. Glowing crystals shot in every direction, forcing the others to take cover. Several smashed into the Anchor behind the Shaman sending arcs of lightning across the room. Jake hid behind his arms, tanking several of the glowing crystals with gritted teeth. The moment the barrage ended he lunged forward. This time he expected the smooth barrier around the Shaman and smashed his palm flat into it. The force of his blow rolled through the barrier making it visible for a moment.
Snarling the shaman pointed the staff at Jake and he raised his arms to shield himself again. Pain flared and Jake let out a sudden shocked cry. Only the shaman had yet to attack. The pain flared in his lower back as he stumbled away. His shiny bark skin armor was pocketed with holes in the material. Blood trickled from the wounds down his back as shards of glowing steel fell free. Looking back, Jake saw the five eyed Grim sitting up. Its entire right hand was gone, blown away in a gory mess. Several metal barrels poked through and smoke rose from them.
Jake watched as more barrels seemed to crawl up its chest, just below the skin. Before sliding down its arm to join the others. Jake blinked his eyes rapidly refusing to accept what he was seeing. "Mine. Unique!" The still sitting Grim snarled.
Another blast from the flak cannon arm of the Grim roared and Jake Rift Jumped away. It struck the barrier of the Shaman and deflected right into the Anchor. More bolts of lightning arced free to scour the cavern. Around them, the deep hum of the Anchor changed in pitch becoming an incessant high pitched whine. Lightning continued to arc free in more and more frequent bursts. Jake couldn't take his eyes off the Grim, more specifically that arm even as more barrels crawled up its body adding to the ones already jutting from its arm.
"Not good! Not good at all. We have to get out of here. The anchor is going to overload and explode!" Jon was flailing his arms as he rushed towards the area under the hole they had come in.
Jake watched as the two remaining Grims also moved. Both scurrying away towards a tunnel previously hidden opposite of them behind the anchor. He took a step forward intent on chasing after them before a blinding flash of light stopped him. An arcing bolt of lighting had almost struck him before being pulled to Breeze's staff. It crackled with energy and made her blond hair stand up and her braid stick straight out before she could dissipate it.
"We can't let that happen. That would mean an entire town would be destroyed!" Breeze's normally calm demeanor was as frayed as her hair. Another arc of lightning shot forth and she drew it to herself as she started walking forward. "I will try and discharge it safely!"
Nearby there was a hiss as Jon's jetpack fired up, lifting him up the tunnel to the surface. Breeze caught the third bolt and crumpled to the floor, her limbs twitching as she clung desperately to the staff. Aoe rushed to her friend. "Stop it you fucking stupid cunt. No dying on my bloody watch." She tried to yank the staff from Breeze's grip.
"Stop it, Nellie." Breeze, no Cara gasped. Before she could say anything else another bolt of lightning arced towards her staff. She gritted her teeth but nothing happened as Jake appeared in front of her. Lightning sizzled across his body that glowed faintly violet before his elemental shield shattered.
"Let me do it. I still have my skill for a second life if needed." He looked to Aoe after shrugging off the effects of the lightning bolt. "Just get her out of here. I won't… I won't be able to control myself when it happens." Aoe nodded and started grabbing Breeze who tried to pull her staff away from Jake. But her limbs jerked wildly and she was unable to stop him as he grabbed the staff from her.
"Upgrade Material: Accepted." Jake's eyes went wide in horror under his mask as he heard that now familiar female voice.
He opened his hand trying to drop the staff he had just grabbed but like before it stuck to his palm. Breeze was still arguing when they heard a sharp shattering sound, like glass breaking. The palm of Jake's oversized hand split open to form a jagged mouth. A dark black tongue made of the same burnt wood looking material lolled out and then wrapped around the staff. It yanked back into the mouth, bending the staff as it pulled it in. The mouth began chomping down rapidly. Everyone froze for a moment as Jake's hand ate the staff in a few loud chomps.
"My staff." Breeze said, her voice soft and deflated. The black texture of his arms started creeping down Jake's chest and up his neck to further marr both pieces of armor. On the back of both of his hands, pure white symbols started to grow, like white webs in a vortex pattern. Jake was just about to start apologizing when the next burst of electricity arced free of the Anchor. He raised his hand towards it and it curved to meet his palm. It coiled around his arm before fading. The white web vortexes on the back of his hands were now spinning rapidly, a dizzying sight. Tendrils of smoke still rose from Jake's body and the air smelt of burning flesh. But the damage he sustained had been lessened greatly.
"My staff." Breeze repeated. Her words seemed to snap Aoe out of her shocked daze. She grabbed her friend and started dragging her to her feet.
"Come on. You get to ride a fucking missile right out of this fucking shit hole. Pretty fucking metal don't you think!" Aoe was back to her normal self as she dragged the still weakened Breeze beneath the hole. Nira moved next to them and Jake could hear her speak.
"I warned you he would still your staff too." Aoe was swearing as a rocket emerged from the box on her back. It hissed loudly as it shot up trailing a wire. She was then yanked up and Breeze who she was holding in a death grip hug was taken with her. Nira glared at Jake. "I hope you die down here." Then fire erupted beneath her lifting her up and into the tunnel.
Jake turned and swallowed hard as another bolt of lightning shot toward him. He raised his hands and wrangled them, his body acting as a controlled conduit for the power. It lessened the discharge force and thus the strain on the device. Stepping forward he moved towards the Anchor before leaning forward and stretching to place his hands on it. Thanks to the extra length and size his gauntlets added to his arms he could just barely reach it. Instead of explosive discharges of power, his body formed a circuit and began draining the bursts of power in a controlled steady flow. But like a fuse in a circuit or a filament in a lightbulb, Jake began to glow as his body strained under the current. His health bar dropped at a steady rate, racing towards empty.
He told himself that the flow was slowing, that the current was lessoning just as his health bar went black.
**********
When the darkness cleared and the memories faded back into the void he found himself staring up at the ceiling. His body wasn't yet his own but he wasn't moving. Apparently, there was nothing to trigger his survival instinct. Unable to move he just laid there and listened to the deep humming of the Anchor, it warbled some as it fluctuated. But nothing like the high pitched whine like before. When he gained control of his body he sat up and looked at the Anchor. Lightning no longer shot from it. It hummed similarly to how it had when they first arrived. It looked fine… except for the huge jagged claw mark torn into it. There was a pop and the humming fluctuated as a spark went off inside that claw mark.