The Facultkin Band: Entry 14
After tending to our wounds, it was time to get the last piece to the key that would unlatch the Super Dragon Ball from this city and free everyone, but I am afraid. Stanley or Jack Waynand did not even cause all our damage. It was by Dr. Charles’s lab partner, Cumulus Facultas, and by Ayra’s account, he devastated two facilities with one blast. Chef Mariloft assured me that as long as we were all together, we could do this thing. She was right, and Anna said we needed to do this for the people. We went over to the central part of the city where Cumulus was living. Before we got there, Charles told us to be very careful. This man had been quite odd when he enhanced his inherent ability. I knocked on the front door of Cumulus’s living space, and he responded with, “Come in!”
I opened the door, and there he was, The Strongest Man in Freeman, playing video games and face covered in pizza sauce. Nobody was expecting this. I asked if he was really Cumulus, and he said that it was a pseudonym when he was in public and to call him “Barn.” I cannot believe this, but I asked him for his half of Charles’s key piece, and he grabbed it off the tabletop and tossed it my way. Barn could see that Charles and Ayra were with us, so he trusted me. He asked if she was okay and was relieved that she was okay, despite having her ADAM organ removed. As long as she has Barn’s weapon, she can still handle herself. Then a voice came out of a communicator, Stanley’s voice. That jerk told Barn to take back the key pieces and not to trust Charles.
Barn looked at us and said to hand over the pieces, and Anna refused and was about to say more before Barn flicked his fingers at her. One of the bracelets on his right arm vanished as he did, and Anna would have almost hit a wall if HA didn’t break down the door to catch her. Barn told us again, and I charged at him, screaming because I was so scared. Prophet pushed me to the side as Barn fired a black beam. I am glad I have someone like Prop. Barn reacted to my seer. He was surprised to see a “Stand” or whatever that meant. Barn then conjured up the bracelets that vanished, and then two disappeared before reappearing on Prop’s left arm. It slowed them down long enough to kick him with two bracelets on that leg disappear. The blow became so intense that Prop dispersed. Barn was shocked that destroying Prop didn’t kill me. Why would it?
As Barn brought back all his colorful bracelets, The others attacked while Woofer and Dr. Charles stood back, with Ayra mainly protecting the doctor. Beethoven sang up to summon a ton of junk and launched them toward Barn, but they all vanished. Then this guy literally rocketed up to Bey with a trail of fire and all and encased her in the same junk molded into a dense ball. He kicked away with the same technique that he used to Prop. HA fired off some laughs, only for them to disappear like all the other things we threw at this guy. Woofer came in with speakers for days, but they, too, vanished in Barn’s presence. Barn thanked him because he needed a better sound system. HA was about to body slam him, but Barn looked up and fired off a stream made of HA’s Laugh Attacks and sent him flying upward. At this point, Barn’s home was a mess, and he was upset. Mariloft said we already had the piece, so we should leave. Yeah, she made a good call.
Before we could retreat, Barn was in front of us and behind us. There were two of them. I screamed out what was up with this guy, and Barn explained. He had the power to transmute any object and non-sentient materials into concepts and place them around his person. The result is that it grants him specific effects in reality. The other him is that he incorporated some mirrors a while back. With used to be able to transmute only one object before reverting it to use this on another, he enhanced thanks to the Prototype Supreme Serum and now can convert more indefinitely. Of course, he developed an addiction to collecting objects because he is obsessed with powers, which grant him powers. The results of this problem manifested themselves while he was talking in the form of him glitching out in front of us. The mirrored double smacked his face in shame, allowing Mariloft to whack it with her ladle.
She told me to run, but the actual Barn un-glitched and made more duplicates to grab us. The original one walked to find our pieces, only for Prop to sock him. Barn attacked with his bracelet technique, but my seer dodged them. He realized their power and released a shockwave of black flames, and Prop could not dodge it. Barn stated that I could not simply use Prophet for any problem and that I needed to think of new ways to fight with them. He looked at my pockets and saw no bulges. Barn knew I put the pieces somewhere, and he used his powers on my outfit. He removed the pieces from my interdimensional space and the device that allows me to travel. I was distraught, and Barn gathered them up. I tried to punch him, but I hurt myself because of my weakness. Barn chuckled before Ayra stepped forward to face him. She did not want to go up against the one who trained her and cares about almost as much as Charles, but the Latch Key was necessary for her people’s freedom.
Barn didn’t want to fight her, so he tried to step aside to allow her to leave, but she waved his old weapon at him. He had no choice but to tase her by pressing his finger on her nose. Ayra fell over, and Charles ran to her side. Barn solemnly walked off but was not going to let him get away. “But how could I hurt him?” I thought. I could barely inflict any damage on him. I tried to put my all into my next punch, and then, Prophet appeared as a boxing glove around my fist. I decked Barn in the face, and he fell over. I did it. I actually hurt someone, thanks to Prop, but Barn was not out yet. He soon unleashed an array of attacks on me, from acidic beams to fireworks made of electricity. Some of his glitching saved me a few times, and I was still trying to get the hang of my new reconstruct ability.
Turning Prophet into a shield was probably the most useful in this fight, but eventually, Barn got the upper hand by binding me with all eight of his bracelets onto my arms and legs. They were cumbersome, and I could no longer stand straight. Barn readied an attack involving silver lightning before he started coughing. Then he hurled a light gray hairball and shouted, “Damn that…” I focused all my inner strength on hitting Barn in the gut with Prop in the form of a hydraulic drill. He still stood, stating that he had over a hundred objects on him, so his defense was high enough to withstand this. He was impressed that it broke through a lot of that supposed defenses. Barn again charges his attack before Ayra hits him with her wax club and one more time for good measure.
The battle with Barn was over, but I forgot about the clones, only to turn around to see them gone. My other friends returned to dispatch them. We finally got the completed Latch Key, and Anna was excited to confront Lady Elizabeth. But first, we need to recover again, thanks to Barn. Anna understood, and we left the battlefield. I am worried. Barn is still alive and can come after us, but as Mariloft said, we had each other’s back.
A word from my friends:
- Ayra: Oh no. What have I done? I turned my Cera Amatoris on Bossy. Waaaaaah!
- Woofer: Now, that was a serious freak.
- Anna: We have done. With the Latch Key, we can end this nightmare.
(I don’t own characters and concepts that are both Bolded and Italicized.)
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