Shockwaves and craters were the order of the day. Daiklave met claw and fist as John and the Maiden clashed. For the umpteenth time, John switched the Princes out for Crazy Diamond, locking the Maiden's daiklave between the adamant claws.<br/><br/>The Maiden grimaced as they struggled with the blade lock. 'Not so scary without your pet Prothean, are you, Solar?'<br/><br/>In response, John wordlessly opened his palms, channeling a biotic shockwave through them and at the Maiden, knocking her off-balance. Sensing the advantage, Shepard swung Killer Queen in a wide, low arc, knocking their foe down. Her shields glowed bright as Shepard planted shot after shot into her prone form. As the Dusk attempted to slither away, the Midnight screamed with the voice of a stillborn Titan, shattering pavement and glass and liquefying the brains of the mortals nearby. Thanks to Gold Experience's autosenses and sheer distance, John remained relatively unscathed. He let Shepard handle the unarmed Maiden while he charged to take Miss Skulltits down. She screamed again, only for John to shape a piece of traditional soundproofing between them.<br/><br/>'YOU THINK A GIANT MATTRESS CAN STOP M--'<br/><br/>'I<span style="font-style: italic">AM</span>THE MATTRESS!' John's knee tore through the mattress and collided with the Abyssal's jaw, clamping it shut. His Heaven Thunder Hammer charm flung her into the Reaper's leg with a resounding clang. To cap it off, Shepard scored a headshot with Killer Queen as she swung the rifle around, simultaneously blocking the Maiden's daiklave with the stock. Huh, John thought, I guess Bikini Bones wasn't a dedicated combatant after all. John picked up the unconscious Abyssal and threw her like a javelin at the Weeping Raiton.<br/><br/>Overhead, twin thanix blasts seared the air, burning away at the Reaper's hull. Air support had arrived. From the<span style="font-style: italic">Normandy's</span>open launch bay, Javik descended like a gaudy golden comet, his blade spitting sparks as it raked the Reaper's face. The ship's security personnel stood at the ramp, firing down into the small ocean of Reaper troops.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">This foe is beyond any of you, Young Zenith. Battle its spawn and servants while I draw the Neverborn's attention.</span><br/><br/>Can't say no to that. John returned to the heart of the fray, leaping back towards the Maiden, who had risen to her feet and reclaimed her weapon. Smoking craters marked her vest. Her aura of death and decay permeated the earth where she stepped, a stark antithesis to the bright glory of the Solars and the storm of life surrounding Shepard's anima. Thorny vines erupted from the Terrestrial's bracers, encircling the Abyssal's throat. Cackling madly, the Maiden cut them away.<br/><br/>'Try again, little Dragon-Blood,' the Maiden said, 'I'm sure you'll be relevant one of these d--'<br/><br/>'Princes of the Universe!' The subsequent biotic charge put an end to the Maiden's sentence. Pushed back several meters, the Abyssal broke herself up into countless after-images, striking, twisting, and slashing with wild abandon. Back-to-back, John and Shepard parried and blocked, tanking sword strikes on sides where their armor was heaviest. With a screech of tortured metal, the daiklave's tip ripped a gouge in Gold Experience's plastron, gorget, and pauldrons. The melee progressed at speeds far too quick for mortal eyes to see, a whirlwind of expert lunges and ripostes, until John missed the Maiden's feint. He punched at empty air while the Dusk maneuvered herself between the two and kicked Shepard away. Before John could react, the Maiden knocked him down and put an arm around his neck, the tip of a dagger aimed between the segmented spinal plating at Gold Experience's nape.<br/><br/>'Ah, ah, ah, Solar,' the Maiden taunted, 'hit me with your biotics and this phase dagger severs your spine.'<br/><br/>She triggered the catch release on John's faceplate, leaning in close. 'Shame that I can't take you to back to Mask and the Illusive Man to corrupt. You're too dangerous to leave al<span style="font-style: italic">mmph!</span>'<br/><br/>John lifted his head up and kissed her. And then, mentally, he screamed. The corpse-cold feeling of an Abyssal's lips brought a distinct feeling of nausea. Then the Maiden began to<span style="font-style: italic">participate</span>, and John's internal screaming intensified. It felt like an overgrown maggot was trying to eat his tongue, and John caught the distinct odor of formaldehyde biting at his nose. On the inside of his left cheek, John also felt a horrible scratching, the skittering of a small scarab. A few flies had buzzed in as well. While the Dusk was preoccupied, John searched frantically for the item on which he'd deliberately landed. Just as he ran out of breath, the Maiden pulled away, chuckling.<br/><br/>Her voice was husky as she wiped her lip with the back of her hand. John noted that it was the one holding the dagger and silently thanked Sol that he had a chance to pull victory out of his ass once again. 'Oh my, I wasn't expecting<span style="font-style: italic">that</span>. Tell you what, Golden Boy, I'll shape a little something out of this Chaos to make your passage just a little bit more pleasurable. What'll it be? Asari firewine? A bit of ryncol, a Sweet Williams cigar?'<br/><br/>John spat a wad of unpleasantness to the side. Parts of that wad crawled away. 'Some Listerine. I'm getting a funny aftertaste.'<br/><br/>For a second, the Maiden simply looked dumbfounded. Then the punchline finally hit her, along with a mass of incendiary buckshot from the shotgun John pulled from beneath himself. He'd specifically landed on one of the guns dropped by the newly-deceased MPs. John pushed the Abyssal off. Cerberus really needed to teach its agents proper situational awareness. It took a considerable amount of willpower to quell his gag reflex as he got to his feet. All around him, the war still raged, but the husks encircling him and Shepard simply looked stunned. He decided to shape a bottle of mouthwash after all.<br/><br/>'Boo,' he said to the Maiden, who was most definitely mirthless now. Pure, unadulterated rage contorted the parts of her face that hadn't been blasted off. John responded with another infuriating grin. Then he threw her at Black Hole Sun and emptied the shotgun into the now enraged husks surrounding him and Shepard.<br/><br/>'I think I'm going to data-purge,' Joyeuse remarked, gagging for comedic effect. 'You meatbags get more disgusting with each year.'