"Well! Have you succeeded in your mission?" Spider asks Suzuka as she and Spe-7 meet up with the fallen mob boss. "Have you collected the bounty?"
"We even brought proof!" Spe-7 replies as Twinkle materializes the head of a vex hydra and drops it on the ground with a terrifying crash. The two vandals guarding Spider reel back in surprise and Spider himself claps all four of his hands.
"Nice work." Spider says. "This will make a fine addition to my collection of wanted heads! You two are much tougher than I thought." He then fiddles with a dead ghost and looks at the two. "Hell, you two might even be able to help your friend out here because I just sent him the information needed to take down Pirrha, The Rifleman."
"You did?" Suzuka asks. "Why are you telling us this now?"
"I'm telling him that he's getting backup. You two ARE the backup." Spider replies. "Just keep those masks and hoods on and you won't have to worry one bit."
"Roger that." Spe-7 says. "Where is he?"
"He's probably somewhere in Sorik's Cut." Spider replies. "You guys will need better sparrows though if you're going to reach your exo friend in time. With that in mind, I think you two will like these gifts I have for you." And with that he presents the two exotic engrams marked with glyphs that clearly depict markings for a sparrow. When Spe-7 opens hers she gets a sparrow that's styled like a piece of the golden age, and it sports a bronze finish along with red decals.
"Ooh! This looks cool!" Spe-7 says as she looks over the sparrow. "So this is mine?"
"All yours to keep." Spider replies. "Think of it as a gift for helping me out. I'm sure your exo friend found his own." The one that Suzuka opens looks very sleek and sports neon "blades". It has a black finish and it looks like the end product of a space fighter transformed into a sparrow. "You two have done very well, and I do well to hold my end of the contract. Once your exo friend puts an end to Uldren and the scorn barons, you two are free to go. Now you might wanna get going, Pirrha is called The Rifleman for a reason."
"Right." Spe-7 says as she and Suzuka leave the lair and hop onto their new sparrows. These ones are much faster than the ones they had before and it's not long before they reach Sorik's Cut where Taiki is already going after Pirrha. One good slash from his sword though makes Pirrha glitch out.
"You... Missed! Ha ha!" Pirrha taunts.
"What?! It's a dummy!" Taiki shouts. "Where are you, you ghost killing coward?!"
"Try to find me if you can! I'm over here!" Pirrha shouts as he suddenly pops up, and Taiki shoots his hand cannon at Pirrha, only for him to glitch out. "Nope! I'm over here!" He shouts again as he pops up in a completely different part of the cut. Another shot between the eyes makes that dummy glitch out and Taiki looks around in confusion.
"Where in the world?!" Taiki shouts.
"Wow... That is some really bad aim!" Pirrha taunts. "Go ahead and take out your ghost for me will ya? I need the target practice. Hell, if I could get you checked off my list I could just sell your ghost to Spider... Nah I'll just hang it on my wall next to Cayde's! Ha!"
"Oh you think you're gonna take ME down?!" Taiki shouts as he hops onto a new sparrow. This one is all black with red details, and it appears to be armed with front mounted lasers that Taiki must have jerry-rigged himself.
"Man... Why didn't we do that with ours?" Spe-7 asks.
"Maybe because I don't want our sparrows to explode?" Suzuka replies as the two tail Taiki to wherever he's going.
"You should be closing in on the Jetsam of Saturn. This is Pirrha's territory so keep your ghosts safe." Spider says as Pirrha pops up, but this time when Taiki shoots him he doesn't glitch out- instead The Rifleman actually reacts, nearly losing his crossbow in the process.
"How's that for bad aim huh?" Taiki laughs as he then lobs a fusion grenade that sticks to Pirrha. He just barely manages to rip it off, exposing his skin underneath before it detonates, and Taiki looks like he's going to throw up. He then looks to see Suzuka and Spe-7, but he doesn't say much.
"You the backup Spider was talking about?" Suzuka only nods in response as she and Spe-7 move in and try to find Pirrha. Eventually they trace him back into a mine not unlike how the past few barons have been, and Suzuka simply stands off to the side to allow him in.
"Thank you. This is really personal." Taiki says as he walks into the mine and Spe-7 and Suzuka peek inside to watch the inevitable battle. Pirrha emerges from hiding, but it appears he's not alone.
"What the..." Taiki mumbles as three Pirrhas move in.
"Can you tell reality from illusion?" Pirrha taunts, but Taiki simply brings out his giant flaming hammer.
"Time to test that." Taiki chuckles as he spins like a tornado, dissipating two of the copies and sending the real Pirrha flying. "This one's for Cayde!" He yells as he leaps high into the air and slams it down on The Rifleman, caving his head in and destroying his cybernetic eye.
"GAH!" Pirrha shouts. "Why you little-" He's cut short as Taiki then proceeds to decapitate The Rifleman and he catches his severed head after sheathing his sword.
"Maybe I'll hang YOUR head on my wall... Next to the heads of the other barons I've killed." Taiki snickers evilly as he walks out of the mine.
YOU ARE READING
Destiny 2: A Lost Soul
FanfictionTaiki and the equine guardians may have survived the Red War and defeated Ghaul, but as time goes on so does the rest of the world. With the darkness advancing on the traveler's location since it woke up, and with new people in the fray that aren't...
