" You don't have to do this, Gareth. "
Tom pleads in an empathetic tone and Gareth responds with a stern resolve.
" But I do. There's no better way for Voldoor to fall than for it to be destroyed as a result of corporate greed. This has been a long time coming, and I'm not going to squander an opportunity like this because I may never get one again. All I've ever wanted was to see my Grace again… I'm going to be with my sister. "
You and Tom look at each other tensely, then you turn back to Gareth, attempting to talk him out of it.
" When we were in the church, Reylesh said that digital consciousnesses aren't the same as the first one! Maybe the real you is already with Grace in the afterlife! "
" It doesn't matter. Even if I'm not real, my suffering… the longing I feel… it's all very real to me and it must end… It's too late. Things are already set in motion. For what it's worth, I'm sorry that it had to be this way. "
Suddenly, the Czar's cruiser explodes on the screen and the people in the city that saw it start to scream. An emergency news broadcast then takes over the screens above the console and the voices of people yelling and panicking can be heard in the background from watching the Czar die above the city. You see the streets breaking out into chaos and fear as the people on the news stations all begin covering what just happened.
" AGH- FUCK! "
Pads says as a static noise plays in your earpiece.
" ThEy- OuTsiDe! ThEy- jAmmiNg mY- cOnnEctiOn! "
Pads says as his voice glitches. Gareth's face immediately turns serious before he establishes a comm link to the surface, speaking to his associates on the outside.
" The Otherlanders sent from Moriarch just sabotaged Czar's Mind Mirror! They've wiped out the guards and killed Ryen Miles! I'm- "
Tom immediately blitzes Gareth, punching him in the jaw and shattering his head into pieces in a split second before he can finish.
" Pads! You okay!? "
You ask before you and Tom both sprint back towards the facility entrance, running at an inhuman speed.
" I'm- FiN-! GeT oUt- heLp- "
Pads says as his voice continues to glitch. You and Tom quickly reach the destroyed elevator and begin flying up the elevator shaft to the Church of Vol where the statue seals off the surface entrance. Tom punches a hole through the statue, exploding it from underneath and you both fly out into the sanctuary where you see multiple squads of NaxTech soldiers shooting each other. Tom crushes the chests of the soldiers in the sanctuary with his telekinesis and their disfigured bodies all fall down before you both land in the center of the room and look around for Reylesh. Suddenly, Reylesh emerges from the corner of the room and asks a question in a worried tone.
" What happened down there!? They just bursted in here and started shooting at me for no reason! I had to turn them against each other to keep this form in pristine condition! "
" Gareth turned on us. We need to get back to The Monument. "
Tom says quickly as you and Reylesh follow him out onto the street. You then see several military cruisers descend over you with their side doors open and High Temple Guard snipers standing on the edge, opening fire down at you. You catch their bullets mid air before Tom pulls the cruisers into the ground causing them to explode in the middle of the road, and the pedestrians on the street all scream in terror and run around. A few others within the crowd unholster firearms of their own to shoot at you, but Tom snaps all of their necks 180° simultaneously before taking off into the sky, flying towards The Monument. You look back at Reylesh and she grabs your hand.
" Go… I'll hide myself here amongst the crowd and find you again after this is all over. "
She says before you give her a nod and she lets go of your hand, quickly turning around and slowly changing her form as she disappears into the crowd.
You launch yourself into the air, swiftly flying through the city before several more military cruisers emerge behind you and begin opening fire at you with heavy machine guns. You slam each cruiser into the surrounding buildings with your telekinesis and spin around through the air as you're flying, dodging their bullets while they try to chase you through the city skyline. You look ahead and see Tom zooming towards The Monument that's towering above all of the surrounding buildings, and there are several military cruisers trying to follow and shoot him as well. You watch as Tom redirects all of their bullets without looking back at them to have them shoot each other instead of shooting him, then you see him descend back down into the city and land in front of The Monument, sliding on his feet in the middle of the street and pulling all of the cruisers that are following him into the ground behind him, causing them to violently explode. You immediately land next to him and ask him a question, looking up at The Monument.
" Should we go inside? "
Suddenly, the floor where your penthouse was explodes out the side of the building and you see Roary emerge from the explosion with tattered clothes blowing in the wind as he falls down the side of the skypiercer with Mimi on his back. Mimi screams as Roary digs his arm into the side of The Monument as he's falling to catch himself, tearing through the windows and outside wall of the building as he slides down until he comes to a stop. You then see Gareth's clones jump out after him, chasing Roary by running vertically down the side of the building with their Eviscerators in hand as they open fire at him and Mimi. Roary casts a spell that puts a whirlwind of fire around him to protect himself and Mimi before you and Tom immediately take flight up to where he's fighting Gareth and his clones.
The clones quickly close the gap between them and Roary, dashing through the fire and throwing an unrelenting barrage of strikes as they surround him. Roary takes a few hits as he counters with punches and kicks reinforced with spells that explode upon impact while he dodges the best he can with Mimi swinging around on his back. Once you reach Roary, Tom lands on top of one of Gareth's clones, kicking him through a window and out the other side of The Monument before falling down into the city. You land on one of the windows, standing vertically next to where Roary's hanging on the outside of the building and you effortlessly dispatch the remaining clones. Tom runs vertically down the side of the building to intercept six more Minders that are quickly climbing up to where you guys are, and you turn towards Roary to see that he's bleeding from one of his shoulders. You ask him a question while Tom takes on all six Minders with his fists in the distance.
" You're bleeding… you alright? "
" I'm fine! Gareth got me in the shoulder, but his gun jammed when he tried to shoot Mimi. I had a feeling he was gonna snake us… "
Roary responds before four more Minders burst out of the windows around you, opening fire. You immediately catch the bullets before grabbing their bodies with your telekinesis and throwing them off the building and down into the city, then you look out over the rooftops below and see several snipers on the rooftops aiming at you, so you catch and send back their bullets as well as you talk to Roary.
" Faerah's blessing… that's why Gareth's gun jammed. It's a good thing Tom had you watching over Mimi. When Gareth volunteered, I'm sure Tom could tell there was some sort of ulterior motive. "
A military cruiser then quickly swoops around the side of the building and aims its heavy machine guns at you before unloading a bombardment of bullets and missiles on top of you. As you catch all of the incoming projectiles, Gareth bursts out of the window underneath Roary and tackles him off the building, knocking Mimi off of his back, and causing both Roary and Mimi to free fall off the side of The Monument and down into the city. Mimi becomes your sole concern, screaming as she falls, and you return the projectiles back at the cruiser to blow it up before you fly down and catch her with your telekinesis. Roary and Gareth tussle as they fall, then Roary casts a magical explosion out of his hands, launching Gareth like a bullet into a nearby skyscraper and putting a crater into the side of it upon impact. As you continue to fly downward, you pull Mimi into your arms and catch Roary with your powers as well before letting them down onto a nearby rooftop and landing next to them. You look back up at The Monument to see Tom flying around, fighting the Minders and cruisers that are trying to kill him around the outside of the building, then you turn to Roary and ask him a question.
" Can you keep her safe? "
Roary nods his head before a squad of NaxTech soldiers with rifles kick open a door on the other side of the rooftop and he turns towards them, stepping in front of Mimi and materializing his ethereal flail before swinging it down on top of them, exploding the entire opposite side of the rooftop to kill them and prevent access to the rooftop from the stairwell. You turn back towards Tom and ask him a question telepathically as he continues to tear apart the relentless force of Minders and cruisers that are pursuing him.
" How do we make them back off?! "
" The whole city is watching and wanting us to die because they think we killed their Czar. Negotiation and reasonable discussion is off the table. We gotta give them a demonstration of power so intimidating that they'll know they're fighting a losing battle. "
Tom responds as he spins in the air through the hail of bullets, annihilating every person or vehicle that engages him and leaving a trail of explosions and scrap in his wake. He continues talking to you telepathically.
" Remember when you said this city needs to burn, Donny? Now's your time to shine! Let loose and show them what we can do! "