Joey wasn't quite sure what to make of Cleo's text. He finished helping Barrier Maiden hand over a trio to the military, then hopped up a couple levels. As he landed on the uppermost one, a portal took him straight to the common room in the Underwing.
Ned and Cleo were waiting for him there. Where were Ida and Darius? And what were those stains on Ned's clothes?
"Courtney and Sawyer will be back soon," Cleo said quickly, staring into whatever world her clairvoyance opened up to her. "I'll explain then. Or Ned can explain."
Joey carefully pulled down his hood and took off his mask, looking at Ned uncertainly. What did Ned have to do with any of this? His brother wouldn't even make eye contact, just staring at the floor glumly.
It was only about a minute before Courtney and Sawyer came through another portal, but it felt like an eternity.
"What's going on?" Courtney asked. "What's with the double mayday? Are Team Chaos planning something else?"
"No," Cleo said, shaking her head. "Ned?"
Ned nodded and finally looked each of them in the eye, then took a deep breath and explained.
Darius was trying to destroy Arx Nubibus.
"Is he nuts?" Courtney asked, frowning. "How would that help anything?"
"He's mad at you too," Ned said quietly. "He thinks we all betrayed him."
"We didn't!" Courtney insisted. "I was just trying to help Ida. Heaven knows she needs it, with a parent like Odin."
"He's not her dad," Ned corrected quietly. "I think Ida is Odin."
The revelation silenced everyone for what felt like far too long before Sawyer finally broke it.
"The hell?"
"That's impossible," Courtney said, nodding. "Ida's a child no matter how you look at it. How would she get the kind of access Odin has? Nobody would give a kid that much power."
"Darius thought Ida was older," Ned said. "And she acted like it. She didn't act like a kid. She knew more than any of us. How would a mere child be able to learn all that?"
"How should I know? She's obviously had a rough upbringing," Courtney retorted. "Maybe she's been forced to study since she was little."
"Or maybe she has her own Miracle," Ned said quietly. "I don't know what exactly, but if you've all got Miracles, why not her?"
Courtney's eyes widened and she sat back in thought.
"Something that makes her super smart," Sawyer muttered. "Makes enough sense. Dammit. If I'd known, I'd have strangled her for what she did to me." He paused and looked away awkwardly. "Not actually strangle her, but I'd at least have a human person to yell at."
"It doesn't matter about Ida right now," Cleo said. "We don't have much time before Arx can't be saved. We have to figure out a way to talk Darius down. Ned'll lead us to the reactor and we'll hope Darius is still there." She stood and took a breath, then glanced around the room.
"Let's go," Joey said, pushing the terror down. If he froze now, everyone might die. Now that Ned mentioned it, walking had felt a little weird. It would only get worse.
"I don't know if the door is still open, but we can go," Ned said. "If it's closed, I think only Ida or Darius could get in."
"I can portal us through if it's that short a distance," Cleo assured him. "I just can't see where he is to portal us there from here."
Ned nodded, then led the way, followed by Joey and Cleo, then Sawyer, and finally Courtney.
When they got to the reactor room, the door was still open, making Ned's fears unfounded. Joey almost threw up from the smell. Darius stood over a small figure on the ground, a puddle of blood surrounding her.
"You're back, Ned," Darius said flatly. He didn't even look up at them, continuing to stare at what was left of Ida.
"Darius, you can't do this. Please," Ned said, barely holding back tears.
"I can. And I will. You can't stop me."
"Darius, I'm sorry about Ida," Courtney said, stepping forward cautiously. "But you can't just destroy everything because of it. What about all the people who are living here? The ones who have nothing to do with any of this?"
"You were wrong about people being inherently good," Darius said quietly. "Wrong that if given the chance, they can change. I tried to keep Ida from killing the claw woman. And then she killed Ida instead. If I hadn't listened to you, if I'd let Ida kill her, and Paris, and Ferry, Ida wouldn't be dead.
"Ida used to complain about how unredeemable humanity is. How they kept making the same mistakes over and over again, never seeming to learn. How those with power always trample on those without. It doesn't matter how hard you try to make a system that keeps them in check. Those with power want more, and it comes at the expense of those without.
"Tell me, what's worth saving? This place destroyed her. I'm being kind. Most people won't even realize what's happening until death comes for them."
"What about all the children? They're innocent. You'd kill them too? Even though Ida was one?"
"I'll spare them having to grow up in such a twisted world," Darius replied coldly. "Besides, they'll become rotten before long. The sort who usher in a new order of persecution and suffering."
"Please, Darius!" Joey said, unable to stay quiet any longer. "You can't really believe that. Not everyone is like that. Maybe we could all work together to make Arx a place Ida would have liked. She...she never actually tried to destroy it did she? Everything she did was to protect Arx!"
"And you destroyed her for it." Darius looked up at them for the first time, then glanced at something on the floor.
"Damn it all Darius, we didn't!" Sawyer spat. "I'm sick of you and Odin jerking us around. Just quit it and come home or whatever! I'll drag you there myself."
He stepped forward, and Darius simply laughed.
"You can't stop me. Even if you destroy my body, my mind is somewhere else. You'd have to destroy every system in Arx Nubibus to stop me, and then you'd have done my job for me."
"Dammit, Darius!" Sawyer grabbed him roughly by the arm and started to walk back to the rest of them, but Darius ripped his hand away and grabbed the thing on the floor.
It was a gun.
He pointed it at Sawyer's forehead, glaring. It was the first time his expression had changed.
"I am staying here. If you don't want me to shoot, leave. This is the weapon that killed Corrosion, you know."
Ned paled, as if to verify the statement.
Sawyer babbled something incoherent, then stumbled away from the room. As if it was waiting for him, the door swung closed and clicked shut.
"Darius!" Courtney yelled, banging on the door.
There was no response.
"Portal us through!" Courtney said, spinning towards Cleo.
"I don't know if I should!" she replied desperately. "If he has that weapon, wouldn't he just kill us? I can't see how things go if I send us through and I won't send you to your deaths. All I can see is that no matter what I do here, Arx goes into the ocean."
Tears brimmed at the corners of her eyes.
"What's the point of a Miracle if we can't fix things when they're most desperate?" Courtney asked, her hands shaking.
"Darius," Ned called quietly, barely audible. "Please stop this. Please." His hand bunched into a fist and he started sobbing.
Joey grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him in for a hug.
It was the only thing he could do now.
"Guess we head up top and see if there's an evacuation protocol?" Courtney said shakily.
"There isn't," Cleo replied. "I looked on the way here. I can send you to the military, though. Maybe they can come up with something."
"Sounds good. I'll see if I can get anyone to believe this nonsense." She snorted. "Arx Nubibus was piloted by a little girl and now she's dead so her robot has decided to destroy us. I'm sure that sounds credible coming from someone like me."
"I'll go with you," Sawyer said. "Can't stand doing nothing."
Cleo nodded and opened a portal for them, then flopped down on her rear against the wall next to Joey and Ned.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I should have seen this coming. But I didn't. I'm...a failure."
Ned pulled away from Joey and sat down next to Cleo, grabbing her hand. Joey sat on her other side and took her other hand.
"You can't do everything," Ned said quietly. "I think...I should have said something earlier. Maybe then things wouldn't have gotten so confused."
"Or maybe we're all a bit to blame, and there's nothing any one of us could have done," Joey muttered quietly.
Helplessness fell over him and he couldn't bring himself to say any more.
All they could do was wait quietly for whatever came next.
