I didn't know how long I got knocked out, but my senses returned slowly, and I didn't like what I saw. Maybe it was a malfunction he exploited or one last desperate middle finger for whoever crossed him, but Arachne seems to expunge what's left of his acid. Leaving the area a smoking wreck of burned holes and singe marks now etched into the warehouse's infrastructure.
For a second, I didn't even know how I survived. Until I remembered what happened in those last seconds, I saw a smoking body crunched on the floor several feet away from me. Every alarm in my body went off, forming a cocktail of regret as I immediately rushed over, removing my jacket and wrapping it around my hand.
"James! James, come on, stay with me. What hurts? Tell me!" I say desperately.
Like a jump-started engine, James shook in utter fear, yelling out.
"It, it burns! But, oh god, what a world, what a world!" he said while flopping like a fish.
Over time though, I realized his "death" was taking longer than it should, eventually petering out when James realized.
"Oh, it doesn't burn at all, neat," he says matter-of-factly while looking at his armor.
I angrily threw my jacket at him, annoyed and relieved I had to listen to James' chatter a little longer. Again, though, I wish that was the worst thing that happened tonight as I decided to take one last look at Arachne. Or, more accurately, what remained of him. In the center of the scorched crater lay his near-cremated skeleton.
It wasn't the most gruesome kill I've seen or inflicted, but it was undoubtedly one of the most chilling. Because despite not having a face anymore, I could tell he was smiling as he indulged in an inside joke we didn't know about. One we wouldn't know about till we joined him. So while we waited for the rest of Titan to arrive, I stared at my fallen foe.
Hours later, we secured the rest of Stan's weapons. Between their serial numbers, military-grade quality, and info pools, we finally had the tools to bag him. I had redeemed my defeat about tenfold. Yet even days after my victory, I didn't dare relish it, instead looking at the mission report on my phone with Arachne's words still ringing in my ear. If there was another threat in this underworld, I had to stop it. I had to.
"What the heck are you looking at?" James said while snatching my phone again.
Defensively I tried snatching my phone back, but between my injuries and James' strength was a useless endeavor.
"It's nothing. Just give me my phone back," I said defiantly.
"If it's nothing, I guess it can wait a while. We got more pressing matters to discuss," James said amusingly.
"Like what?"
"Like whether or not you want to watch a couple of movies with my paintball team. Guaranteed free snacks and popcorn.:
A storm of annoyance and confusion welled in me as I finally decided not to ignore my partner's nonsense.
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"How do you somehow always manage to move on? Or hell, even relax after we just saw, knowing what we know," I said in a vulnerable manner.
For once, James didn't have a snarky answer or wordy response. Instead giving my words the weight they deserved. Eventually, he gave the most straightforward answer possible.
"Because every day, I tell myself that if I'm always looking back, I can't look at what's here and now," he said coldly like it was from experience.
The unexpected profoundness hit me harder than any attack I've received in the past week. If only for how well it applied to me. When I became the Paladin, I did so out of redemption when I took this path—a promise to what almost seems like a different life now. I didn't expect to find peace, stability, least of all, people who somehow see things in me; I frankly can't.
Yet, I can see something more for me when I talk with these remarkable individuals, whether with weakness or comfort, before Pearl returns to our table with plenty of food. So, I couldn't help but answer James' earlier question and say.
"Thank you for the offer, James. I'll think about it. I'm not 100% on it." I say with a slight smirk.