84: Might as Well…

  As the wizard paled, Kim rushed forward hoping to draw Blayre's attention. There was a glowing multi-colored energy around both Jam and Damon, and she could only guess that it had something to do with them using their rainbow vision to strike at Blayre. Their metal health attack was having an effect because Blayre had b-lined towards them, bolts of lightning zapping out of the sky as he approached.

  But as each bolt was about to obliterate either man, Dio would strum his guitar and the bolt would deflect into the sky. Or into a wall that would then explode. Judging by the sweat on Dio's brow, the task was getting harder.

  A song was bubbling up from the back of her throat. She recognized now that if she sang as she wielded the sword, her voice amplified by the pommel meant her actions would be stronger, faster and more deadly. That said, she knew she had little chance of success swinging a sword against the most powerful man in all of Metaloria.

  But it might distract him.

  And since distracting him was her aim, instead of singing she shouted a gruff, harsh battle cry, summoning all of her strength as she leapt. The gravelly scream was something that she imagined her uncle would call a death metal scream, and made a surge of metal health fill her body, strengthening her.

  With that surge, she rose higher that she expected, with more certainly that she'd ever had of her own physicality and dexterity. She was like a screaming pop tart coming out of a toaster, holding a sword.

  Her confidence grew. She could strike him. And if her blade were sharp enough, remove his head. That would separate him from his source of power.

  But as she descended, he glanced her way and his eyes slightly focused on her, and then he gave the tiniest shake of his head. This motion sent her flying through what remained of the room's wall, her sword knocked in one direction, her pride in another, and she went over the edge of Rainbow Island.

  85: Lightning Strikes

  Damon thought that Kim's jump would have put David Lee Roth to shame. And her accompanying scream was so raw and aggressive, it reminded him of the scream at the start of Slayer's 'Angel of Death', which seemed to be the perfect image of her. She had become an angel of death. Nothing would stop Kim.

  Well, nothing except for Blayre. With only a flick of his fingers, Blayre flicked her away.

  Bug Flick: 5 damage to Kim

  Metal Health: 27

  She flew past Damon, through a wall, tumbled across the floor and over the side of the tower. He felt as if he had gulped down his heart. She was gone. Then a slight movement drew his attention. Kim's hand was holding on to the edge of the broken balcony. He assumed and hoped that the rest of her was attached to that hand and was relieved when her blonde hair and forehead appeared, but she didn't seem to have the strength to pull herself up.

  "The babe needs our help," Jam said.

  "I know," Damon replied, struggling to spit the words out. "But she's not a babe. Well, she is a babe, but it's not right to objectify her. She's, uh, more than that. She's smart and stuff." The subtleties were too hard to explain at this point in his battle with an all-powerful wizard. All of his mental prowess and concentration went into attempting to bring Blayre's metal health down. It was dropping by the hundreds, but the wizard was at such a large number it would take years to kill him. "If we stop this attack, we all die."

  "I'll save her," Dio said, and guitar in hand, he dashed across the mostly destroyed room, hopping over stones and broken instruments and smashed Marshal Magic boxes. It was very much like watching a hobbit run, with surprisingly speedy legs.

  "Uh, without him, we won't be shielded from the lightning bolts," Jam said. "We'll be riding them. Like… well, like riding lightning, but in a bad way."

  "We'll have to gird ourselves," Damon said.

  Looking through the king's eyes, he saw the brightness around Blayre. The Lost Chord was infusing his spirit with its power. The wizard had become one with the music; it was like watching an evil Robert Plant in the middle of a song in a stadium. There had to be some way to stop the resonance, to dechord him. The glow around Blayre was the chord itself resonating from him into the world. Lines of power went out in all directions, to the sky, maybe as high as the sun, and the moons, to all parts of Metaloria, all powering him.

  "You can do this," a voice said, and at first, Damon thought it was the earth itself, for the lines were going through King Fidds' head and into him and Jam. "You can. Don't Stop Believin'."

  It was a familiar voice, and the song from Journey filled his head. It was King Fidd's voice. Was he somehow reaching out from whatever heaven he was in?

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  "Dude, I believe in you too," Jam replied. He wasn't sure if he was speaking to Damon or he was hearing the voice, too.

  And with that, the focus, the belief, the tune of the song, and the sense the universe was on his side, Damon found a new focus and awareness. The numbers of Metal Health began clicking downward so fast that he could see Blayre growing smaller, less bright, only as bright as a hundred suns now, not a thousand.

  "Send him Rhubarb," Damon said. He imagined the dessert as if it were floating between him and Blayre.

  "What do you mean, Dude?" Jam said. "Oh, I see."

  And Jam joined him with that image, making it more real and powerful. "I hate rhubarb, too. It's so bitter."

  They sent the image, using the power of the king's head, into the wizard's thoughts. And Blayre staggered. "Ugh," he said. And it may have been Damon's imagination, but the lost chord sounded fuzzier. The lines of power around the wizard looked less strong.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Damon saw Dio reaching down towards Kim. He would save her. "This will work," he thought. "Don't stop believing."

  Then, Blayre let out a laugh. "I like rhubarb," he said. "It is the most metal of all desserts." And with that, a blast of lightning sliced into Dio and blew a hole where he was standing. Dio was gone. So was Kim. And Damon lost his concentration.

  Blayre's metal health ticked up, and he drew in his power.

  "We will be blotted out now," Jam said. "It's just like prom."

  Then, like a harbinger, the following words appeared in the air:

  Ride the Lightning Full Force: Ultimate Version

  A microsecond later, bolts of lightning descended on them like rain, blotting them out.

  86: Winged Assassins

  The explosion of the lightning only a few inches from Kim's hand burned her fingers and blasted her into the air so that she was soon tumbling down, down, down toward the land below. She dropped through the rainbows powering Rainbow Island and was stirred by the natural beauty and magic in their colors. Maybe everything should run on rainbows. Wagons, cars, bicycles—the list went on as she continued to plummet. You seem calm, she thought to herself. You might have a concussion. But it's certainly better to die in a calm place.

  There were two spots of worry though: the first being that she would at some point smash into the ground and be broken into about a thousand pieces. The second niggling worry was that a lump of misshapen stone had been blasted off the Sacred Heart Palace and was falling towards her. The worst scenario would be if she hit the earth, somehow survived, and then the stone smashed into her so she was double crushed like in a cartoon.

  She passed through the rainbows and into open air. A few clouds floated in an unassuming manner, but otherwise it was a sunny day. If her speed weren't whipping her through the air, she might even warm up.

  Then a shadow crossed over the sun and Kim jerked to a stop, as if she'd hit a net. It took her a moment to realize that the shadow was glowering down at her—it was Fiora who had grabbed her by the shoulder. The dragonspawn's face was black with soot, her green mullet was mostly gone, and her teeth were gritted in such a way as to show the sharpness of her bite. "You are too heavy, girl," she said.

  Kim chose not to admonish her for the rude observation. Fiora, whose bloody wings looked to be more a collection of ragged holes than actual wings, flapped harder, and the two of them miraculously slowed their descent.

  "Fiora," Kim said.

  "Yes, I'm Fiora," the dragonspawn spat the words out. "Stop stating the obvious and hold on. Because I'm not done."

  Kim grabbed tight onto the dragonspawn. Then Fiora reached out with her other hand and caught the shadowy stone that had been falling towards them.

  The stone shook its head. "You caught me!" It was Dio, covered in dust and ashes, his clothes still smouldering.

  "Bon Scott! Why is everyone stating the obvious?" Fiora huffed, working hard to keep them in the air. "The real question is what should I do with you both?"

  Before either could answer, there was a rather colossal explosion on the side of the island. Lightning flashed briefly, outshining the rainbows.

  "We need to stop him," Kim said. "Blayre, that is—in case it wasn't clear."

  "It was modestly clear," Fiora said. "But I have tried to kill him in so many ways that I'm running out of ideas. Do you have any?"

  "None," Kim said.

  "That doesn't surprise me," Fiora replied.

  "You don't need to be sarcastic! It's not helpful in moments of stress. It just—wait!" She drew in a breath, for the path of action had now become very clear, and it was perhaps the stupidest idea she'd ever had. "You've inspired me! Can you get me above him? I know exactly what to do."

  "You better," Fiora said, and with that, she doubled her efforts, pushing and pushing her wings, grunting with each flap. The higher they went, the more she grunted, but they were soon through the rainbows again and past the jagged bottom of Rainbow Island. More explosions rocked the tower above them, raining stones that the dragonspawn dodged.

  "Bye, little man," Fiora said, and without warning she dropped Dio onto a broken set of circular stairs.

  He rolled a few times, banged his head against a stone lion, but managed to roll onto his back and flash the devil horns. "Give the wizard a metal meltdown!" he shouted. Kim supposed a simple go get him wouldn't have sounded right in Metaloria. "Turn it up to eleven!"

  Now that they were lighter, Fiora climbed higher and faster. They came over the top of the Sacred Heart palace, and the first thing Kim saw was blue, blasting lightning making Damon and Jam dance, their hair pointing in all directions. Blayre himself, in a piece of luck, had his back to them, as he laughed like a madman. Lita was laid out at his feet, while Uncle Gord tried to drag her away.

  "Higher," Kim whispered, "higher." They went higher, up behind Blayre. "Higher!"

  "I'm all out of higher," Fiora spat out. "Your stupid plan, whatever it is, better work."

  They fell toward Blayre in a somewhat controlled tumble. Kim reached for her belt, cursing herself for not being prepared. She found the Horn of Udo and dropped it, for its magic had long been used up. Instead, she dug into the pouch on her belt, accidentally releasing a few coins. Then finally, her hand closed around the object she was seeking.

  Their shadow had crossed him, so Blayre looked up, but before he could react to their fall, a bell-like tink attracted his attention. It seemed to come from Damon's direction, but Kim couldn't see what had made that sound.

  To give Kim more speed, Fiora threw her towards the wizard. "Good luck, spawner," she said.

  There was no time to reply. The thing Kim had grabbed was hard. She pulled on the rubbery ball, and to her relief, it stretched out. She knew they had to cut Blayre off from the lost chord, and from his power, and from them. And she really hoped this ball would do the trick.

  Then she pulled with all her strength, stretching out the rubbery substance that was the Pit of Never Ending Sarcasm. She aimed herself right at Blayre, feet first.

  A moment later, her Destroyer Boots Of Major Metal Destruction burst into flames.