"My lady! RUN!" One of the minotaurs screamed as she was pulled off her hooves and impaled on Bedford's striking fist. As his arm pierced through, his fist unfurled and a narrow barrel slid forward. A bang roared out and a spray of deadly metal tore through the air and into the soft flesh of the other minotaurs.
With a cackle, Bedford flung his impaled victim aside and stomped forward. Despite their loyalty, the assassin maids who'd followed Lace this far knew when a fight was hopeless. Thus, as the metal monster strode deeper into the Crystal Mind's chamber, they scattered like flies, leaping into the shadows of other corridors or scaling into the dark rafters above.
At the center of the huge dome-shaped room, just before the glowing green spherical gemstone, and at the one of the consoles connected to it, Lace stood with her back to Bedford. Her eyes were firmly locked on the screen in front of her, and her face was drawn in an expression of wonder and horror.
In the corner of the screen, she saw the reflection of Bedford as he stalked towards her, and just behind him she saw one of her last maids still bold enough to challenge him. As she had seen a few times before since the monster entered the room, his left arm opened for just a moment. The maid took a swing at him and her blade passed right through him harmlessly, before he raised his arm and his entire torso rotated to strike her. The poor girl fell to the ground with a broken neck, but his eyes remained locked on Lace.
She glanced down at the belt of her tunic, where a narrow empty bottle hung. She'd drank its contents almost half an hour ago to heal the hole in her side. Right next to it, hidden in the fold of her tunic, were a few knives, some compact explosives with flint tabs on their wicks, and one unique tool that was her only hope for escaping alive.
She took a steadying breath and focused on the screen before her. "Like what you see?" Then she shivered and glanced back over her shoulder at the metal monster looming behind her.
"I'm not entirely certain I comprehend what I see," she replied with a frown and gestured to the screen. "However, unless I am mistaken, these are some of your memories?"
"Bingo," the machine beamed. "Packing part of myself into this thing was the easiest way to get it running. So, you go digging around, you find some of me."
He rested his head on her shoulder and draped his left arm on her. "Neat, huh?" She scowled and studied the screen again. It displayed a vast country viewed from a high place, with miles and miles of metal tubes and towers stretching out in every direction. Just below the point of view were scores upon scores of identical bipedal golems, filling the streets of a dark and foggy metal city. Each machine's eyes flickered faintly, which was the only indication at all that the screen was displaying an animated file, not an image.
For across the entire scene, there was no motion anywhere. No clouds. No birds. No wind. Just metal and the varied yet uniform shapes it had been worked into.
"This is your home?" She dared to ask. "The other world you came from?"
"Sure is," he chirped, tapping the screen. "And them there's my boys. Waiting for me, on the off chance I need more firepower to pull off what I'm here to do."
He chuckled darkly. "At least, that's some of them. Got a whole planet full of others to work with, y'know? And this," the screen flickered and revealed a sight that made Lace gasp. He hummed and rolled his head forward to glare into the side of her face. "But, y'know, how'd you guess I'm not from 'round here?"
She hummed, avoiding his eyes. "I was watching your explanation to the Princess through the pony golem."
He snickered. "And you killed the lights when you heard what I'm aiming for, huh?"
"It's quite unseemly."
"Agree to disagree," he gently drummed his fingers on her shoulder. "You seem oddly calm compared to your girls, though, even now that your in arm's reach. What's up with that?"
Lace snorted and leaned on the console. "I was denied the throne of Minos in favor of my little brother, by virtue of him being male. I spent years scheming until I ensnared a petty warlord I could use to claim my birthright," she glared at him, drawing his eyes to her own. "And when I finally managed to take my city, it was only so long as I played at being that idiot's wife, all while another male lorded over us both."
She snorted a thin gout of steam into his face. "I am accustomed to powerlessness and have learned how to endure the pains it brings," she added drawing a smirk from the monster. "And I am accustomed to you. Or at least, a version of you."
She giggled daintily and pressed her forehead to his. "Though, if I may say, my lord? I found him more of a worthy challenge."
"Is that right?" The machine scoffed, the barrel of his weapon sliding out, aimed at her side.
"Beg pardon, but yes," she giggled again. "For he at least knew never to come so close."
A bang roared from Bedford's right arm, but as the metal pellets sprayed out, Lace was already mobile. Using his left arm and unwavering strength as leverage, she swung herself up, avoiding the gun blast. As she did, she slipped the disrupting wand from her belt and drove it into his left arm, lengthwise.
"Fucking," Bedford muttered as the gemstone core of his phase distorter crackled and then went dim. Lace, meanwhile, vaulted over him and kicked off the console, launching herself towards the exit. Bedford struggled to pull the disrupting wand from his arm as the tool crackled, hampering the magical energy keeping his body moving, and visibly stunting his actions.
While he was so distracted, Lace pivoted in the air and flung a few of her explosives towards him, pulling their tabs as she did. As they rolled through the air, just as many knives stabbed into them and sent them flying to the console where they were pinned. Bedford barked a laugh before blasting his left arm off with his weapon and then diving away from the console just as the explosives went off.