Chapter 70 of 74 · Book 6, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Chapter 70 — Golden Combo

Book: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride · Part: The Bedlam · Previous: Chapter 69 — A deity has fallen · Next: Chapter 71 — The Eye of the Bedlam Bride · Floor: Floor 8 — The Ghosts of Earth · Series: the series

Opening

I had anticipated this, and I grabbed onto Samantha’s pigtails once again as we slipped aw

Summary

Pigtails grabbed; a zip-line glide to Donut on a beam around the 25th floor with Lazarus levelling an RPG at the demon — 'We need him to cast his spell!' 'Why summon me if you're not going to let me blow stuff up? I swear, you're all pansies.' 'Carl, what happened to all your hair!' The prince turns his back — done with them, wanting only home — and shouts skyward in an unknown tongue. Down through holes: Mongo on an overturned bed beside a ghost child eating breakfast; the Lis fighting a floor below; Louis below that. 'Imani and Tran are two levels below […] but the whole area is swarming' Crabs through a wall: Author Steve Rowland taken screaming into hell by a claw; Dong's sock avenges him; Lazarus grabbed and gone — Totem Eliminated, splitter or not. 'Why hasn't the quest updated yet?' 'Waiting for the cloud to spread over the whole world.' Bautista in his four-armed ring-form with Britney and Elle tearing rubble; Elle's second sasquatch and a Gumberoo, a bear-hippo; another Li Na human totem dies holding the exterior. 'I'm out of cards!' Imani: 'I won't leave Tran. And I don't trust my last totems.' Phase potions won't work — a drop like a rock. Donut's hand: Alpha Carl, Shi Maria, Golden Combo, Lamp; Jola discarded as too big; Hole is on the staff card, not in hand; no Flee. Carl's plan: summon both, Golden Combo them to clear the card and skip their bullshit, let the fusion hold the demons while everyone digs, then Puddle Jump. The Daughter fed, crackling black — not up here. Alpha Carl appears; Shi Maria materialises too big for the hall, body hanging outside, legs snaking in; the Golden Combo thrown — and the spider's leg comes through the back of Alpha Carl's head, exploding him over Carl. 'The intended target of the Golden Combo has been incapacitated. Proceeding to the next available minion target.'

Characters

• Carl — Combined with a spider by a misfired card.
• Princess Donut — 'It says...'
• Shi Maria — Kills Alpha Carl and takes his place in the combo; the combo lands, as she promised at the hydra.
• Alpha Male Carl — A leg through the head.
• Lazarus-A-Bang-Bang — Dragged to hell mid-complaint.
• Author Steve Rowland — Taken screaming.
• Dong Quixote — The sock avenges a friend.
• Daniel Bautista — Four arms for digging.
• Elle McGibbons — A Gumberoo and a sasquatch on rubble duty.
• Imani — Will not leave Tran.

Locations

• The FOCSA building — Beams and pockets; demons through the walls.

Motifs

• T'Ghee totems — 'Next available minion target': Carl was always a minion.
• Mercenaries — Steve lost to a crab's claw.
• The Scavenger's Daughter — Full and black and unusable indoors.