So we entered what looked to be the last room. No other exits, no way up, still lit by that same phosphorescent wall-glow. Is this the place? As Howard jumped into the X-marked circle with a "Nyahahaha!", I relaxed a bit. That's it, then. The Indiana Jones bullshit is over. Now we just have to survive whatever's thrown at us next- and it can't be nearly as long as what we've faced so far. A quickie, then. My thoughts were interrupted by the THUMP of the exit sealing off behind us. Just like in some Sonic game.. they seal the exit and then they make the hero(es) fight the final boss in a confined space. Nah. Who the hell would they make Howard fight? We'd ream the poor bastards, unless.. unless they're throwing something other than regular humans at us. I half-expected to see a five meter tall robot come crashing out of the wall, lasers blasting.
"Mighty Inheritor, you have successfully completed the requirements of the second test for the abilities of Endurance and Skill. Now, we shall test you for the abilities of Strength and Speed.", Gladstone's voice proclaimed from a loudspeaker, further giving the impression of a console game's boss. Oh shit... it is a fight. Got to be. Unless, of course, they're going to start throwing big rocks at us from the ceiling, which I wouldn't be surprised about. I felt myself tensing up, readying for battle, a nagging sensation of danger pulling at my head- pulling even harder than that Indiana Jones bullshit. "Being of sound mind and able body, do you accept or reject this next challenge?", it continued. Like he even has a choice. I'll save the question 'Where the hell do these motherfuckers get off doing this shit to the future controller of the world?!' for later.
"I ACCEPT, YOU ORWELLIAN MOTHERFUCKER!!!", Howard screamed, his echo being echoed off the walls and creating a cacophony of reverberated sound. "I FUCKING ACCEPT!!! BRING IT RIGHT THE FUCK ON!!!" Oh, they will. They always do. I'll have to hand it to him- he's good at sounding like a badass ready for serious ass kicking. The dim lights turned off and spotlights hit us in the face, furthering my impressions of a final-fight idea. A very, very faint scuffling in the darkness confirmed them completely- those can be only one thing.
"Inheritor- there is only one rule now.", the Bastard said, and I could almost hear the venom dripping from his lips. "Survive."
"You don't think they'll send Enforcers after us, Howard?", I grated, drawing my machete, my eyes and ears attempting to track their motion.
"Billy... fight."
The Enforcers came hard, fast, with two longswords apiece compared to our single machetes, and all at once. Good! I attacked with the machete, attempting to put three of them away with a single stroke. It didn't work. As they jumped back out of range of the stroke, I took a few milliseconds to consider just how fucking big they were. Seven feet tall, versus a 5'1" ten year old. Even better! It means they're bigger targets. 1, 2, and 3, I mentally labeled them, from left to right. I clenched my left fist, extending the blades, attacking 3 with an upward stroke of the machete, one it leaned back from while bringing its blades up. 1 tried to swipe me with its swords, but I grabbed the left swordarm first and kicked the right one, retracting the fist-blades about a tenth of a second after I had extended them. 2 was going to do something, now having lots of room to attack, but I drew back and kicked it in the chest with a ridiculously hard blow, using the foot I had stomped on 1's wrist with, the steel toe going partway into and under its ribcage, smashing back the skin and flesh. If these things could feel pain, this one would have been out for the count- but as it was, it was still active, and I drew my leg back before it could cut it off, and attacked 3 some more with the machete. It dodged and partially parried the first stroke- and then 1 was active again, attempting to slash me with its left arm. I clenched my fist yet again, moved ridiculously fast yet again, and put my blades into the attacking arm's wrist. I twisted the blades, cutting its hand off, feeling the red warmth yet again. At the same time, I moved to the right, getting in close to 3 and dodging a sword stroke from 2. My first stroke missed, and it moved as to parry my second one- and then before it knew what had happened, I had removed its throat, my blade going under its blades, and blood spurted everywhere. I was expecting it to keep attacking, but it was falling over dead instead. I yanked the blade out and jumped back, then rushed 2, keeping an eye on 1 that was coming around it. I moved back and forth with the blade very rapidly, causing 2 to parry my strokes, and then used my left hand's blades to carve it from its stomach to its neck, severing the aorta and causing a massive gush of blood- I heard a resounding CLANG and realized it wasn't my fight that sound came from. Jumping back several paces, I pondered how to take out 1 for a split instant- then I got an idea, sheathed the machete in another split instant, and rushed it with my bare hands. Predictably, it tried to slash at me- I rushed inwards and grabbed its forearm with my left hand, held onto it with my right, put my feet on its chest, and as the momentum drove us to the ground, I pulled its arm off, standing on the rest of the body as it fell to the ground. How to finish- oh, yes. I took the severed arm and plunged the still-clenched sword deep into 1's lower neck and spinal cord, hearing a muffled *tink* as the point hit the floor.
I turned left a bit and watched Sarah take on one last Enforcer. She kicked it in the back with her left leg, and I heard the telltale snap of bone breaking. She then finished it with a two-handed swipe of her machete, spilling more blood on all of us in a spray worthy of Mortal Kombat, and its head went thump and rolled a few inches. Turning back and forth, we looked for more targets- none in sight.
That was the end of the fight- nothing remained but us.
The third test was over.
The spotlights turned off and the phosphoresence came back on. There was a double *schink* as Howard's and Sarah's machetes returned to their scabbards, soaked in blood. Speaking of blood, this place better be made with Teflon.. if they're ever going to use it again, that is. It started raining, and I knew that it was pure water, washing off our suits so that the Dominator and his servants wouldn't be blood-bathed at the reception. A panel revealed a fan blowing hot, dry air and Howard squatted next to it with a tired thump, us edging closer to it and feeling the drying warmth, the antithesis of everything we've been through in the past week. He took off his helmet and let his sweat-soaked hair hang down, and Sarah and I immediately did the same- damn, I had no idea how humid that was. In the rainforest, the humidity is 100% both in and out of a suit- but this air is obviously filtered.
The room turned out to be a rather large elevator, taking us to the top of this faux temple, into a room of Illuminati, some clapping, some just astonished. Others were more industrious, putting their notepads away. I wonder how many notes they have? Probably plenty, chock-full of revealing character traits they can use in the future- use them against him, if they have the guts to shorten their projected lifespan by a good margin. I can picture it now- and you thought he was mean when he was the Inheritor..
I looked at the generally cheerful people surrounding us, and.. just looked. Damn them all. They actually expected us to survive that shit? They wear us down, tire us out, then send us all into the cold embrace of ten high-speed Enforcers with mondo swords and orders to kill? Maybe they are as smart as they think they are.. most of them, anyway.
A woman with C-cup breasts and a smile handed Howard a cup of hot chocolate, and the Bastard proclaimed Howard the Dominator of the Illuminati with predictable, well-hidden anger. I don't think he said it right, though:
Howard is the DOMINATOR of the ILLUMINATI!!
I faded into the shadows (not as hard as it sounds- for a society used to watching their backs, these guys leave a lot of their rooms dimly lit) and pondered things in silence, only darting out for split-instants to get food; I noticed that everyone was avoiding talking about world politics; and it continued like that for two straight hours, until everyone simply started leaving and we began the flight home.
Well, at least that's over. What's next?