Guardians of Terraria II: The World of Calamity

Episode 30.3 - Threats of the Ocean Floor

The three of them dropped together, into the darkness of the Abyss.

Robyn was once again clad in the Abyssal Diving Suit. Sid and Renee held on to her shoulder plates so they could sink down with her, the suit's weight causing them to sink at the speed of a ship's anchor.

Sid's summons were active, some Snake Eye drones darting about and zapping any nearby Abyss enemies to pieces. The Laserfish, Toxic Minnows and Devil Fishes that had once given him so much trouble now seemed as weak as the smallest Green Slime.

Robyn knew that getting down to the deeper layers as quickly as possible was vital, to save on their breath. She'd equipped her Ocean Spirit light pet that she'd found in the Abyss last time, and it was lighting their way, allowing her to see any obstacles, whether made of blocks or health, ahead. She maneuvered them around ledges of Abyss Gravel, some leftover Scoria Ore still flaring with dripping particles of magma.

They soon got deep enough that the gravel turned to voidstone studded with blue lumenyl crystals. This was the deepest she and Sid had gotten before they'd encountered an Eidolon Wyrm and been attacked by a Reaper Shark.

Sid called back his summons and despawned all of them. Stealth was now their greatest weapon – the deeper they could get without any large sea creatures spotting them, the better. Robyn continued to weave around black ledges of stone, barely able to see them as more than shadows in the indigo water.

That was when she approached a ledge that, instead of being dark and hard, was grey and spongy.

It was a Colossal Squid. The creature rotated in the water, three eyes staring at them, its tentacles flicking about its side.

Robyn felt Sid's grip on her left shoulder plate disappear. He had summoned his Profaned Guardians to fling themselves forward and slam into the squid's large head. His Elementals were quick to follow, then his Snake Eye drones. He even plonked an Old Duke head on a nearby ledge for good measure.

Sid was going to divert this Colossal Squid's attention while she and Renee plunged deeper. Exactly according to plan. Even if Sid couldn't take it down, he could just magic mirror out of there, and by that time Robyn and Renee would be much deeper.

Robyn cast a glance up at Renee next to her, who gave a nod. But that was when another shape darted out of the darkness.

"Behind you!" Robyn shouted into her suit's helmet.

The Reaper Shark slammed through both of them. Robyn felt her suit's plates crack, still holding but damaged. Renee had also lost her grip on her shoulder.

But she had to keep sinking. She had to trust that Renee would keep the Reaper Shark occupied so she could reach the Abyss's bottom.

***

Renee flung out her grappling hook to a nearby voidstone ledge, its impact dislodging some lumenyl crystals. The Reaper Shark had 200,000 health, which was less in comparison to Polterghast and the Old Duke, but its scathing swipe had caused her to take over 300 damage. She drunk a healing potion to top up her health and started throwing her Ghoulish Gouger.

The Reaper Shark began to swim towards her, the lumenyl crystals glowing along its teeth glowing in anticipation, yet the creature's form was so dark it appeared almost invisible in the murky depths. A stealth strategy that, in some ways, Renee employed herself. She flapped her Elysian Wings, propelling herself upwards. As she was hoping the Reaper Shark followed, not able to move as fast as she could, so she could simply attack and attack without worrying about it being able to lace another blow. Though of course she remained mindful of her surroundings, knowing that if a second Reaper Shark or something came out of the darkness to attack her it would definitely be a good time to magic-mirror away.

She eventually brought the Reaper Shark's health below half, at which point it gave an enraged roar and angled itself directly towards her, making a sudden lunge. It almost outpaced her wings, so she weaved to the side by grappling onto the nearby Abyss wall. The Reaper Shark didn't stop for a moment, charging straight at her again. But she'd just fought the Old Duke. She wasn't going to go down to this shark that only had a big enough brain to just charge straight at her.

After more and more swipes of her Ghoulish Gouger, the Reaper Shark fell with a final growl, dropping some of its teeth and what looked like one of its fins.

***

Sid, meanwhile, was not faring as well.

The Colossal Squid kept on trying to ram into him, its pointed head trying to skewer him. And whenever he weaved to the side its tentacles would try to snap out at him, but for the most part he could avoid both attacks.

What he had trouble avoiding was the ink it shot from its mouth, the ink being barely visible in the dark Abyss, but it would blot out his vision whenever he got hit, allowing the squid to hit him. Then on one occasion the squid lowered itself down, two of its tentacles wrapping around him, and bringing him up to its mouth.

Bugger this, he thought, and he used his magic mirror.

He respawned next to the bed inside the shelter on the sulphurous beach. He stepped outside just in time to get another faceful of squid.

"Cactuses!" he shouted as the Colossal Squid's tentacles snapped at him for some damage. It flung itself off him and up into the sky as his summons went on the attack. He got to his feet in time to avoid the ink bomb that dropped from its mouth to where he had been standing.

He'd never imagined anything like this happening. Somehow, since he'd used the magic mirror while in its mouth, the squid had teleported with him.

What would Meg say if she was here? Something along the lines of What the heck, Sid? The plan was to distract the Abyss creatures, not bring one up to the surface with you! And he'd be like I didn't invite it! and she'd be like –

Stop thinking about her! he mentally shouted at himself. He heard the whirring sound of another magic mirror, and saw Renee was now running out from the shelter.

"No idea how that happened," she said, fading into invisibility, only to strike out with a powered throw of some new weapon Sid hadn't seen her use before. It burst through the Colossal Squid, the impact causing some bright blue-green vortex projectiles to spurt out and rush back in for extra damage. In-between more attacks from Renee and Sid's summons, it didn't take long for the Colossal Squid to fall, its squiddy body and tentacles bursting out all across the sulphurous sand.

Sid huffed. "Thank you, Renee."

"You can thank the Valediction," she said. "A Reaper Shark attacked Robyn and I down there, and I ended up distracting it like how you went after that squid. As a parting gift, it dropped this!" She twirled the weapon in her hands.

Sid ran to the items that the Colossal Squid had dropped. He saw it had dropped a new summon weapon that summoned flying squid that would fight for him, but that wasn't completely on his mind. He turned to face the respawn shelter.

A number of things could happen now – Robyn could run out of breath or run into some creature that would cause her to magic-mirror out, or maybe she'd reach the bottom of the Abyss and return with the secret that the Eidolist had told her about.

Or maybe she wouldn't return at all.

Either way, she was on her own now.

Maybe Sid should start up a swim school. Sid's Colossal Squids. Wait a minute, Sid from Ice Age said something like that already.

Vote if you please.