Chapter Text
The titan loomed above them, it’s all consuming darkness surrounding the trio of heroes as they desperately tried to chip away at its health. It had been a tough battle so far, the group only able to do any real damage when its star shield was down after using nearly all of their TP to unleash a bright beam of light. To say this was the most difficult enemy yet would be an understatement. Even Ralsei, kind-hearted pacifist Ralsei, put his all into attacking the titan. He may not be able to do much damage, but every hit counted if they wanted to fell this great beast. And they wanted more than anything to take it down. So much was riding on this, for Kris it was to fulfill their part in Carol’s plan, for Ralsei it was to change the prophecy, and for Susie it was to save the friends she had finally made. Even with different motivations, they all shared the same goal at that moment. Taking down this titan.
Kris gave out the next set of orders, having Ralsei and Susie help brighten their light to defeat the titan spawn faster. TP was a hard earned power in this fight, but those weird creatures dropped them when defeated with the light, so a little TP spent would add up to much more earned. The trio continued this attack strategy as their TP stores slowly increased. Susie stood there, anxiously awaiting her next chance to strike at the thing hurting her friends. Noting that they were close to unleashing again, Kris gripped their sword tightly ready to attack at a moment’s notice.
Turns out they got ready not a minute too soon as they let out a powerful burst of light, busting the Titan’s shield open. Kris, Ralsei, and Susie sprung into action, wailing on the titan with their weapons to get the most damage possible. And it worked, the titan staggered, a red aura emanating as it took damage. They were getting close to finally winning, they could feel it. The titan continued to flash and break apart in front of them. The heroes began to feel hope that this was it, they saved the world and stopped the roaring, Susie especially seemed pleased, a wide smile on her face as she turned to ruffle Ralsei’s fur and pull Kris into a side hug.
“See, nothing can stand in our way! And if it does I can cut it with my axe!” She grinned proudly at her friends.
“You’re right about that Susie! But… uhm…” Ralsei flushed unsure about her ruffling his fur so aggressively.
Before she could finish her premature celebration, the titan did something unexpected. Its large wings wrapped around its face like a protective cocoon. Susie quickly untangled herself from their celebration and reached for her axe, striking at the titan with everything she had… nothing happened. All of the damage she did was completely nullified. Not even the slight damage from when the shields are up, completely nullified. And then, as if to mock her attempts, it began to heal itself.
“Hey, wait! What is it.. doing” Susie questioned, still shocked her hit did nothing against the beast.
“It’s… regenerating,” Ralsei said, his eyes downcast.
All of the hope they had built up was crushed in a single moment, nothing they had done mattered. That entire fight was pointless. Each hit, each chip from its seemingly endless hp pool, was for absolutely nothing. What felt like hours of hard earned progress was healed away, while they still had to bear the hp and resource loss it took to get there. Once it was done destroying every piece of hope they had, it simply opened up its wings to reveal the intact shield.
Susie grit her sharp teeth together. They couldn’t just give up though! She couldn’t just give up and let it steal the first friends she had ever made. Damnit! Maybe Ralsei knew something that could help or the way to win is in the prophecy somewhere, there has to be a way through.
“Hey, Ralsei, how do we stop it!?” She turned to him, hopeful he’d know something.
“I… I don’t know…” Fuck.
Ralsei stared at the titan, trying to analyze what its deal is.
“It seems… we were only... damaging its outer shell. As long as the inside is intact… this battle… will just keep going.”
Susie stood there quietly, trying to not feel crushed by their impossible task. What was the point of being a hero if she couldn’t win when it mattered. Maybe all of those people were right, maybe in the end all she was good for is ruining everything. She had hoped that they were wrong, that her friends were right to believe in her, and that she could do something good for once in her life. But it didn’t even fucking matter. The stupid knight with their stupid titan causing the stupid roaring, ruined everything for her.
As if sensing Susie’s turmoil, Ralsei spoke up trying to return hope to her.
“I suppose… We just have to… keep fighting.”
Susie wouldn’t budge though, not even registering that Ralsei spoke as she could only stare lost in her own self-loathing thoughts.
Then, without warning, a loud shatter was heard as a hammer flew through the titan’s shield, thoroughly eviscerating it. When Susie turned to look at the source, she was shocked to see the old man standing there in a gleaming suit of armor.
“What’re y’all given’ up for? You’re not out of ideas yet, are ya?”
“Old.. old man!” Susie shouted excitedly seeing her mentor again. “I thought you were…”
“I was lookin' for a change a' scenery... But this is a bit ridiculous. C'mon, let's get this fellow!”
“...Yeah!” Susie brightened up considerably, placing her trust in the old man’s knowledge to get them through.
The pair powered up, launching a strong dual buster attack at the titan in front of them. Any attempt from the titan to regenerate its shield was disrupted as the attack tore through it, dealing devastating amounts of damage at the same time. This was it, this was their source of hope. If she could just keep trashing the titan then maybe her attacks could outpace its ability to heal.
“Geheh, not bad!” the old man praised
“Heheh, right? … still, we’ve only harmed the outside…” Susie stopped to think of how they could change that, how they could harm the inside too.
“Then ya know what to do, right?” He prompted her, encouraging her to think more.
As she stood there, quiet, it hit her what they needed to do. They had to treat it like healing Jackenstein. While she continued to formulate a plan, she prepared another dual buster attack with her mentor, not wanting to let the titan get even an inch in. The two launched their next attack, with Ralsei pitching in with his scarf to deal some extra damage. The titan still hadn’t sent out its next move, and Susie didn’t want to wait and find out what it had in store for them next.
“Kris! I got an idea.. But, uh, you’re gonna have to put your life in my hands. …kinda, literally.” Susie waited for Kris to give her a nod of approval or see if they had any other suggestions, but Kris stood completely still, not giving her any sign except a slight smirk.
“...damn, what am I asking for!? We both know I got this, right!? Let’s go!!”
At that they gave her an affirmative nod and she scooped them into her arms like a ball. She just had to get the aim right, make sure she doesn’t miss, and “... Nah screw it! Get dunked on!!!” Susie ran towards the edge of the cliff, reading to slam dunk herself and Kris into that titan and put an end to the roaring. Her heart soared with hope and adrenaline as she thought of how maybe she was a hero after all. With these thoughts, however, she completely missed the slick glass from a shattered panel in her path. Susie slipped on the glass just as she was about to make her sick slam dunk and stumbled forward off the ledge.
Her and Kris tumbled down. Falling further and further into the inky darkness below. Well shit.
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