Shuttershock asked me if every mission was like the Genunken Temple. I exhaled in relief, knowing my answer was, they are most certainly not. He became relieved as well. Then, he inquired if I ever experienced a mission as taxing and difficult as what we faced. I referenced a few past situations that, in the moment, seemed like I would not survive. One such example was facing Lady Paige, where every attack I endured seemed like it might end my life. I then said how the Genunken Temple might be worse, though, for just when I thought we were in the clear, there was another door to walk through. At least with Lady Paige I was resolved to the fact that I knew the end would come if I were victorious. In those caves, I had no idea if we were going to be able to find our way out, even if we defeated all of the Zhibdeans.

I expressed this to Shuttershock, and he said the only way we were going to find out was by opening the doors. Therefore, we stood and approached them. In the marble, as with the last two doors, was an inscription. It read “The Chamber of the Everlasting is home to Dainin”. Underneath this was the moniker “Khanti Parami”. Below the inscription was what appeared to be another circular calendar that rotated like a clock keeping time. Again, it read “Year 949”. The last of the Zhibdean Triplets was at hand.

I pushed the doors open, but before we entered, Shuttershock absorbed the little light that was being emitted from the few torches in the previous chamber. It was a very smart move. I nodded in acknowledgment of this, and he nodded in return. Finally, we entered. The doors closed behind us.

The chamber was mostly dark wood. It appeared to be a combat room, with jade columns and fixtures reinforcing everything. The chamber was also filled with intense pressure. We could feel it all over our exterior. Shuttershock and I wiggled our fingers in our ears to relieve them of feeling like they were plugged. Alas, our heads still felt like they were in a vice grip. The Zhibdean was near. However, neither of us could see our enemy. I told Shuttershock to be ready for anything and he was, as was I. We prepared ourselves for the worst, which turned out to be exactly what was required of us.

Dainin leapt out from the shadows, and exploded on the scene with furious strikes. Her ancient kung-fu was fluid, like that of Genko, however, she never relented. Her stamina could not be exhausted. She did not even breathe deeply. It was as if she were fighting on a single breath. Shuttershock and I fought together, mixing in strikes with light energy blasts and flying attacks. Dainin avoided all of our efforts, and merely continued her barrage without pause, pounding us all across the chamber.

I decided that I would need to absorb some of her strikes in order to get close enough to grab her. I placed my guard high, bobbed and weaved, and worked my way inside. Her punches were incredibly fast and landed with force wherever my guard wasn’t. Dainin effortlessly analyzed my defense and struck me in all of the openings possible. Pain began to mount, but my injured arm was about 85% effective so it was durable. Then, when I reached Dainin, I grabbed her by the shoulders and launched her towards Shuttershock. He reacted how I anticipated and nailed her with a powerful beam of light energy. Finally, we had inflicted some of our own damage.

We followed this up with an immediate attack. I did not let Dainin recover, flying in like a flash of lightning. When I unloaded a punch to her face, I sent her back into the ground. Then, I proceeded to stomp on her body. She eventually tripped me, and when I hit the ground she kicked me in my abdomen, sending me across the floor. Shuttershock did not waste a second, though, and he immediately began pummeling her with light beam attacks. This battered Dainin into the cave wall. Rocks fell on top of her, burying her body underneath rubble. As the smoke cleared, there was a long moment of silence. Shuttershock and I looked at one another, wondering if the battle was over. We quickly found out it wasn’t.

From underneath the pile of rocks, a wave of power fired towards my partner. Dainin had activated her vocal weapon. She stood to her feet, maintaining a stream energy that trapped Shuttershock against the chamber wall. The jade-reinforced wood began to bend, but Shuttershock was being flattened. I flew in to save him, but Dainin turned and hit me with her vocal powers. I was twisted and slammed into the ceiling before falling onto the ground. Dainin resumed crushing Shuttershock without hesitation. She never stopped to take a breath, either. Her ability to use her power was everlasting.

My partner could not withstand the pressure any longer, so I jumped in front of him and shielded his body from harm. Dainin increased her vocal output, causing even more damage with the percussion strike. My entire body was vibrating, and as when I was hit by Lady Paige’s energy blasts, I felt like I was going to explode. I turned my head slowly to Shuttershock who was recovering on the ground. That was when I noticed the light dimming around us. He was charging up. Then, he looked up at me. His eyes were shining bright and he was ready to go.

Shuttershock stood, and with every last ounce of light energy in him, unleashed a massive beam. It struck Dainin, and this time, she was the one pinned against the wall. He was unrelenting, walking up close to her to compress the stream of energy and make it more damaging. Dainin shot a vocal blast, though, pushing Shuttershock backwards once their projectiles met. The two increased their output in an attempt to overwhelm the other. I regained my composure while witnessing the standoff, and I realized though Shuttershock’s display of power was great, it was finite. He would run out of light energy, whereas Dainin could hold her vocal blast forever. I would have to act fast!

I threw boulders at Dainin, but they merely exploded into dust once they hit the field of energy around her. Physical damage did not affect her. Shuttershock’s light beam was the only way to defeat her. Thus, I stood behind him and yelled I was going to launch us towards Dainin, pinning her against the wall to crush her, and that he needed to give everything he had. So, he ramped up his effort, filling the entire room with light from the massive energy blast, and then I put my hands on his back and took off flying, pushing us towards Dainin. It took a few seconds, but eventually her vocal stream gave way and we slammed her into the wall, causing her to disappear like Genko and Dairyu had. It was finally over. We had won.

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