For a brief moment in time, it felt as though I didn't exist.

Vertigo and darkness gripped me. As if it were trying to crush my body into a small ball. I became a living bullet through the void until I hit the target.

An explosion ripped me from the compounding pressure, and I hit the ground, rolling until I could stagger up onto shaky feet. The smell of charred metal and arcane displacement filled the air as a cloud of amber dust washed around me. With the sunlight scorching my aching body, it seemed my gamble had paid off.

I raised my eyes to see where I had ejected from. A long-haul truck sat split open, dark smoke rising from the exposed innards. Several untouched vehicles sat in a line behind it, in a fenced-off area. There was a vague memory inside my skull of Clara reassuring Belle that the teleportation circle had been recovered from our old homestead. I had just gotten lucky that they'd taken it fully assembled, probably to avoid any ire from the particular techie.

Now I was in this storage lot near the outskirts of the city. Further from the Natural Disasters, but now in less danger of putting innocents in the way of whatever was now climbing from the wreckage of the truck.

In part, it was my shadow. Even as I regained my footing, I could see the last tendrils of darkness disconnecting from my boots and sliding over to the vehicle. Even with the sun behind me, I cast no shade on the ground before me.

Large clawed hands gripped the bent metal plating. Blood ran from the places the monsters touched, even though their form was little more than dark mist. With a lurch forward, they pulled themselves out of the wreckage, revealing themselves from the darkness.

It was the Aberration, albeit a weaker version that we had faced in the furnace.

In the process of unraveling the monster, some of the threading I had so eagerly pulled on had stuck to me. The mark was the last remaining piece of their tangible presence in this reality. Several suppressed memories of the Aberration trying to control me came flooding back. It was frustrated that I had too much willpower to submit to it.

Now the Witness was a curtain of dark mist with dozens of roving eyes that sunk back and forth within the murky wisps. It was clearly angry with me. While long arms had grown from the main body, it only had shimmering tendrils for legs. I assumed that one benefit of existing on a different plane of reality meant that there was no set form for them to take over here.

Not that it meant I was any keener to face this slimmer, more ethereal version of the Witness. Depending on where I was outside the city, it would still take even Roy a short time to meet me. I might have destroyed the teleportation circle on my explosive arrival. Either way, I had to endure the monster.

Now free from the wreckage, the Aberration spoke. Or roared. It was difficult to know which because not only did I not speak eldritch horror, but whatever sound they made didn't hit my ears. It came in the form of a rising and dimming headache, as if the waveform of their intent arrived in my brain via a rusted needle.

My V-Force legs powered up as I tried to scour the ground for something to stick in my gun-arm.

Pickings were slim. The storage yard was just sandy gravel. Behind me, the western fence sat about twenty feet back. Over in the northeast was a small office - a shadowed structure of dark gray brickwork and covered windows. Probably closed. Even if it was rife with useful projectiles, the Aberration and almost a dozen trucks blocked my path over there.

The Witness lashed out at me with rakish fingers. Dust burst around me as I leaped to the left side. I rolled easily back onto my feet, slapping a small rock into my gun. Before having the chance to fire, the backswing of the ethereal arm caught me. Surprisingly forceful.

I staggered back, my shot no longer aimed at center mass like intended. The small rock whipped through a wavier edge of the monster's main body. No damage inflicted. In fact, I probably got off a lot worse in that clash, as it felt as though razor blades were being drawn across the inside of my skull.

Physically, it hadn't hit me that hard, however. After fighting Roxy and Chevalier, I had grown accustomed to worse.

The Witness swooped down on me, moving quicker than expected. I drew from my well of magical energy and used Dispel as a shield. There was a ringing in my ears as I slid back across the ground. I drew a Nerve shot from the city and snapped back at the monster.

Several eyes wavered and sank away, but little else happened. Even if Clara were right next to my ammunition loader, she wouldn't have anything useful to replace it with. I didn't even want to take my eyes off the Aberration to check for messages. Instead, I pulled my knife out into my right hand.

Another swipe came out at me, and I slipped to the side. The Aberration's hand grew larger as it attacked. I lashed out with the knife and struck the extended arm. It felt like I was stabbing sand, and although the edge of the blade ran deep into the misty limb, the monster showed no sign that it took damage. After all, it was already dripping with what looked like blood.

Empty shell popped out of my gun-arm as my grapple went past the Witness and landed between the thick tyres of a truck further down the lot. It pulled me away from combat, but not quickly enough for me to avoid a follow-up attack. My boots churned through the dry ground as I swung like a pendulum instead of going directly to the grapple location.

I turned and disconnected the foam, using my momentum to leap into the air with a burst of my V-Force. A moment of airtime, and then I landed awkwardly on top of the truck beside the wrecked one. Gun-arm chamber snapped back shut, still empty.

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As if it hadn't been bad enough going up against Chevalier lacking proper armor-piercing options, I was now stuck against an opponent that barely took physical damage at all. Not to mention Smoke grenades wouldn't do anything. I had a single Flash grenade on my vest, but without a follow-up attack planned, I didn't want to waste it.

Buying time for the Natural Disasters to show up sounded good on the surface, but I didn't want to inflict malady on them. At least it was unlikely they'd lose their eyeballs. I wasn't even sure what the Witness wanted from me either. Maybe trying to apply logic to the whims of something not from this earth was a waste of time.

There was a chance that the League might send someone more fitting to erase the Aberration. I wasn't counting on it.

If anything, my thoughts were growing ever cloudier, without pointed focus. With anger. After all that I had endured over the last week, this failed monster clung to the edges of my peace, fraying at my unraveling temperament.

The grapple completed its return journey, clicking into place. I raised my arm toward the Witness.

Not only had it stolen my shadow, but my peace of mind. I wasn't the sort to suffer antagonists for too long. After all, I was a born killer. It was only a matter of time before I found a way.

The Aberration had shifted, rolling toward me like a foul tide. Arms raised high, still dripping blood. Two large eyes appeared in their palms, glaring at me for having the insolence to stand up on high. Not for long.

Before the creature had a chance to climb over the ruined truck to get to me, my grapple fired out, landing behind them. I powered through my legs, denting the metal edge of the vehicle's roof as I burst down toward the monster. Overcharge ran through my arm, and I stabbed forward with the knife, colliding with the moving shadow.

It was difficult to really describe the impact. The Aberration sat on the line between tangible and ethereal. Tied to this plane via enraged intent and a vague connection to part of me. The knife pierced through the foggy outer layer, through one of the fading eyeballs, and out the back of the thin monster. Then, the rest of my arm followed.

An excessive amount of dark blood sprayed across the dry ground as pain wracked my head. I was up to my metal elbow through the main body of the Witness. As I tried to withdraw my arm, the darkness sank around me.

I fell into a void, yet remained frozen in place. Wind whipped around the infinite darkness as giant eyeballs emerged from the featureless scenery. My heartbeat thudded in my chest. A rhythmic beat that provided a source of warmth against the biting cold that sank through my skin to my bones. Beneath my clothing, I felt the prick of thin cuts running around what organic parts I had left. Even my blood was ice cold.

Something similar to a demonic domain, if I had retained a little information picked up from Clara. Not quite as powerful, and with another fatal flaw - the connection to me that was fueling the monster. As it slowly carved through my flesh, I let the thin, needle-like cutting fingers become real. Then I flipped the switch.

My blood flashed through with warmth as I activated my entire magical energy stockpile. The strongest Dispel I had ever cast burst like a grenade around me.

Sunshine washed over me once more, as the gloomy cloud of roving eyes and tendrils staggered away. My arm pulled free, and I readied the knife again. The Aberration flickered, its tether to this plane weakening. It staggered, shirking away like a wounded animal. Eyes wide with indignation, long fingers grasping at the large hole left in its torso.

I rolled out my shoulders. Muscles ached. The slim cuts were healing over slower now, and the blood I'd lost made my clothes stick. Calm had sunk through me, even though I knew that I was no closer to having a warm bubble bath.

For as wounded as the Aberration seemed, the hole was closing up. Perhaps it was shorter, or a little thinner. It had no organs or concept of proper form. The idea made manifest would persist until wrenched from Othea. A stubborn weed.

I glanced to my left, toward the city. Salvation was on its way. A puff of dust bloomed larger as the dark shape of Captain Snaps came to my rescue. I opened my gun-arm chamber ready for… something.

He slid up across the ground, kicking up a shockwave of sand as he came to a stop. Roy held up his modified assault rifle, shouldered and aimed at the Aberration. With his right hand, he quickly pulled a round object from his belt and threw it wide of the fight by twenty feet.

"Open fire?" he asked, eyes switched between me and the monster.

Unfortunately for us both, the Witness saw the potentially easier meal and redoubled its efforts to pull itself together.

The Aberration lunged toward him. Roy moved, circling around in a wide arc to stop behind me, leaving the monster swiping at empty air.

[What's that you threw?]

"Teleporter for the Meteor. Belle says… it will take a while, if it even works at all."

[Roxy on her way?]

"We convinced her that waiting for the teleport would be quicker. She was not happy."

No doubt, the inside of the vehicle was like an oven currently. I could almost picture the grimace on Ren's face, and stress as Belle focused on getting the spell right. Something about it was reassuring.

[Just keep out of its way. Any sign of insanity, run a mile away.]

He nodded and worked his jaw. "You got a plan?"

I watched as the Witness turned to face us, already back at his full strength. The eyes were looking past me at the speedster.

[A plan? We should be so lucky. Distract it and pray that I roll high on my next check.]

The Captain gave me an odd look, but gave his confirmation. Perhaps I sounded a little crazy. Fatigue and an overindulgence of the eldritch. The truth behind Roy's previous statement was that if Belle was struggling to get everyone here, her magical power would be severely limited on arrival. Ren's wind arrows and Roxy's brute strength might make a mess of the Witness, but probably wouldn't banish it.

Roy zipped off, and the Aberration slammed both hands into the ground just behind him. The speedster turned the monster away from me, although plenty of eyes in its back kept watch on me. He was effective bait, giving me time to think.

If we couldn't get rid of it, there was a chance it would attack the city. Even if we beat it to a pulp once more, the influence of the Witness might linger within me. Or its next victim. Unacceptable.

I took a deep breath and loaded a shell into my gun-arm. Immediately ejected it.

As Roy dashed back and forth, remaining just ahead of the increasingly frustrated entity, I emptied the ammunition box back in Goldarch. The last of the Nerve shots clattered to the ground, and I felt the draw of emptiness well up in my chamber by the artifact. The number of times this had happened was less than a handful. It was an uncomfortable and odd feeling. Unused potential.

I drew an empty shot again, this time with more effort. Pushing my synapse connections in ways unintended. Held that feeling. It became painful, like folding a limb in the wrong direction. Splitting bone and torn ligaments replaced by mental strain and overloaded arcane magic.

The artifact within my gun-arm vibrated. Constantly activated and trying to perform an impossible task. I formed a fist. My vision dulled as I dissociated. Roy was a crackle of electricity darted back and forth. The Aberration was losing patience. Probably about to turn on me again.

All eyes turned to me. Some confusion amid the anger.

I held my hand out, palm facing the Witness. Barrel practically leaked overflowing energy from the artifact. I didn't have a name for this attack yet. If my arm survived the process, I'd have to come up with something fitting.

The Aberration reared up, readying to strike down with ten knife-sharp fingers.

[I cast magic missile.]

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