Forty-five
Intrepid hurried to a tunnel in the wall before he could waste time comprehending what heâd just done. There was a rocky incline that he pulled himself up with his right arm. He needed to regroup with his teammates and organize an escape.
He ignored his left wrist as best as he could, adconsciously equipping bandages and mentally relegating Imagination to heal the wound, although it just made him numb. Evil Red had cut him deep, in more ways than physical. She wasnât really his daughter, no less than Red, was, but smashing her was still bothersome to dwell on. Intrepid swallowed his feelings, trying to keep them as numb as his fingers had become.
Intrepid stopped and looked at his left hand and drew a sharp breath. His reaction to Maelstrom unverse was worth than heâd thought, or Evil Red had diced his Creative Spark too. With his right hand he touched the affected fingers. They were cool to the touch, like the metal of a sword, or a blade. He was getting infected.
Lovely, Intrepid thought. Iâm getting infected.
He climbed faster.
In a minute he was back in the conveyor belt room. He was in no shape to fight with his sword so Intrepid spilled a Notion Potion on the Multiblaster to recharge it and let it do the dirty work. Each hit spilled into pools of flame, which failed to last long on the stone floor or metal conveyance structures, but sparks flew out to hit Stromling workers and light them aflame.
Intrepid pivoted on his feet as he headed back into the tunnel the way he came so he could shoot as he went, hitting normal Stromlings, Maelstrom Dimension Nexus Forcers, Spiderlings, and Mechs. Once in the tunnel he found it surprisingly clear of the Stromlings and Spiders that were there before. He speed boosted down its full length to the tunnel intersection. There was no sign of his teammates either. Not even the dragon.
This was bad. Evil Red had said three Nexus Figures were captured, of course counting Cyclone, Charles, and Allison. Could they have been apprehended right after he left? What about Edgar, and Future Intrepid, Luke, and Mara?
What about Red? Intrepid tried to pin down the last time heâd seen the real Red minifigure, not as a disguised Stromling. He couldnât.
Intrepid whirled around to aim himself down the path to the Unverse Gateways. Delivering the Paradox Antitoxin was out. With his firepower he could at least try and take down a Gateway before he escaped⦠more like if he escaped. In the belly of the beast, it was up the Maelstrom if he would leave.
<ac_metadata title="Song of the Swans - Chapter 45"> </ac_metadata>