“Yeah, I’m starting to see I’m only making it worse,” he confesses as he collapses to the ground.

“Jude!” Ezekiel shouts, stepping in front of him as we all surround him the best we can.

He’s motionless and defenseless, and all it took was one fucking spear.

“Surrender yourselves,” the voice says again as they all lift their spears higher in that same eerie unison.

“I’m guessing that means we become the same mindless drones on puppet strings as these guys,” I note, kicking at Jude and feeling better when he groans in pain.

At least he’s still alive.

“Don’t fucking surrender,” I tell him.

“I’m not that damn weak,” Death grumbles. “But kill them so I don’t have to fight so hard. It’s taking all my strength,” he confesses. “It’s trying to force me.”

“Don’t let those spears pierce you,” Gage says like that’s not obvious.

The first wave of spears come at us from all angles, and we all spin, batting them down as quickly as they fly in, and barely manage to stop them before the assault ends just as abruptly.

“Surrender yourselves. There is no other way. You will not win.”

“Then why come after us like you’re desperate to ensure we’re not a threat?” Ezekiel snaps.

“I don’t think our powers are stifled,” I tell them.

“You have no power. Surrender yourselves.”

“It sounds like we have to give up our free will on our own,” Gage says as we all try to think of some miraculous way to get out of this.

“What do you mean about our power, Kai?” Ezekiel asks me.

“We were designed to obliterate humans with human souls. These guys have no free will, since their souls have likely been surrendered, so War has no effect. They’re already deader than the denizens of Hell, or trapped in suspended animation, so Death had no reign. That smoke is some sort of disease infused with them, so it’s overpowering mine. And since they hunger for nothing in this state, famine is pointless,” I explain, glancing around for an alternative escape.

There are just too damn many of them.

“I won’t lose. Surrender yourselves,” it goes on like the broken fucking record it’s becoming.

The next strike of spears comes in twice the amount, and I narrowly dodge a few, and barely catch one before it hits Ezekiel in the back. It takes all I have to swing it and my triton around to block the next onslaught.

“This isn’t going to work for long!” Gage barks, cursing as we both dodge one that flies right between us and also misses Ezekiel by less than a centimeter.

Three of us were nearly speared at once. We’ll never last at this rate.

“You’re scared of Paca,” Jude bites out, wheezing through the pain now. “I can feel it.”

“You won’t win. Surrender or die.”

More spears appear in their hands, and they ready them again.

“Final warning. What is your decision?” it asks.

We hesitate, stalling, waiting for inspiration…

“Wrong decision,” it says as all the spears are launched at once.

My breath hisses out, my eyes widen, and I prepare myself for—

The spears slam into an invisible barrier of some sort, glancing off it and falling all around us. My gaze darts around as a familiar black ooze sprays all around, and red lightning crashes through the cavern right behind it.

The entire room booms and rattles as chains shoot up from the ground, and in a matter of minutes, a large chunk of the tin soldiers turn to pure ash.

“Wrong decision,” the voice says again as the rest vanish from the room, blinking out so quickly that it doesn’t even seem like a true siphon.

I spin, spotting Manella, along with a fully healed Pico. A freshly healed Caesar, who has two arms attached to his body, moves into view as well.

They’re silent as they stare at us, and Gage leans down with Ezekiel to lift Jude from the floor.

“Why’d you help us?” I ask them, readying myself for whatever retaliation they may have in store for the beating Paca delivered.

“They truly are still ungrateful little brats,” Pico drawls as he twirls his wand before it disappears from sight. “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”

Manella yawns and stretches.

“Jahl breaching Hell with his fleet of dead, surrendered souls is old news. The cage weakens more daily. You should be more careful. Stay with your girlfriend instead of going off on your own, since you’re all still embarrassingly weak,” Caesar states in a flippant, bored tone as he picks lint off his shirt.

“If anything happens to you four weaklings, our very powerful, yet completely young-again sister, will blow everything to pieces. She doesn’t have much control,” Pico adds as he begins examining his nails.

“We didn’t realize this was even a fucking issue. Why wouldn’t someone warn us about this?” I snap.

“I meant to,” Manella says as he turns and starts walking away. “I forgot. It’ll take Death a few days to heal, and it’s going to be a long, miserable recovery,” he says as he disappears.

“Wait! What the fuck do we do?” Ezekiel calls to the Gemini Twins, as they turn to leave as well.

“There’s nothing you can do. He’ll have to heal organically, and fight the temptation to surrender,” Pico says as he looks over his shoulder, smiling as he does. “It’ll be pure agony. Tell Paca we saved the rest of you. Maybe you’ll learn your lesson now.”

They disappear after that, and I crack my knuckles as I silently wish for the day I can take them on by myself. Surely Paca made us more powerful too, we just haven’t reached that level yet.

Jude’s strangled, muffled roar of pain has me turning around, as he fights not to show too much weakness. But I know it must be damn bad if he’s struggling this much.

“Let’s get out of here,” Gage says in a quiet, lethal tone.

“We’re going to need to get a lot stronger,” I say in the same hushed tone, paranoid we’re being watched or listened in on.

We siphon out, barely managing to make it to the Heart’s true hallway, when the siphon cuts out and we all stumble into the walls.

“What the fuck is happening?” I snap.

“That illusion fucked with our minds,” Ezekiel says, shaking his head as he staggers as well, struggling with Jude.

Jude flops to the ground, cursing and grunting, as I sway on my feet as well.

“Just being in its presence was unbearable, and now the adrenaline is wearing off,” Gage says as he clutches the side of his head, blinking rapidly. “We really aren’t strong enough.”

“It feared Paca,” Jude says through strain, choking on his own blood again.

“Conveniently after her showdown with her siblings and her level-up,” I add.

The clicking of heels against the marble surface has my head jerking over to see Paca strutting down the hallway in a leather outfit of some sort.

It’s mostly a bunch of leather strips strategically placed over her body with tall leather boots to finish off the look. There’s a whip in her hand, and her lips are lined red, as she smirks at us.

“The blood has a temporary effect, apparently. I’m still powerful. Bow before me and this won’t be so bad,” she says as she cracks the whip, and…hits herself in the ankle with it.

She winces, but quickly schools her features. “That worked way better in my rehearsal rounds.”

She cracks the whip again, managing to snap it away from her body, as I just stare at her in confusion.

“Lick my boots,” she says as though it’s an order.

“Did something happen to her head too?” Jude asks from the ground as though that’s paramount in this moment.

He’s still drunk.

It’s probably a good thing for him at the moment, considering the agony Pico promised would come.

Paca’s expression changes, and she drops the whip as her eyes widen.

She turns phantom and zaps to her knees at Jude’s side, shoving his hair away from his face. Her eyes turn volcanic in the next instant, and the hallway starts to wilt all around us, pictures and frames bursting into flames.

“Who did this?” she asks as the walls begin to rattle.

Pico’s warning about her lack of control springs to mind.

“Calm yourself before you implode,” Ezekiel says as he kneels next to her, smoothing a hand up her back. “You weren’t ready for this level-up if you’re struggling this much to control it.”

“Who?” she asks in a chilling tone of her own as her voice seems to echo.

His eyes widen, and he answers as though he’s been compelled to do so. “Jahl.”

She stands abruptly, and I catch her hand.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” I ask her as she struggles out of my grip with too much ease.

She’s a lot stronger.

“To kill the beast,” she says.

I barely manage to throw my arms around her waist, and she cuts those creepy fucking eyes toward me as the room starts burning around us.

“Paca, stop! You can’t go fight him! You’re not ready. Control your wrath for now. Stow it. This isn’t something you can just charge into and half-ass your way through the motherfucking motions!” I yell at her, keeping her pressed to me so she can’t siphon without me, even when she goes phantom.