FicWad

*A/N: Well ladies and gentleman, we’ve finally reached it. What this whole flipping story was leading up too. I hope it meets expectations :D

And now, without further ado, I present to you:


Chapter Nineteen: SING


The team gaped at the false wall for a couple minutes. After a while Cyanide walked towards it, examining the wall, seeing if he could get to the other side without breaking it down. Finally, on the very bottom, he found a small knob. He turned it and a little portion of the wall swung open, making a small door.

“It looks like this is a one way knob. You can get in, but ya can’t get back out,” Cyanide said.

Cigarette Kiss looked at the little door in disbelief, “What is this? Alice in frigging wonderland?”

Cyanide shrugged.

“At least we can fit through it,” Revolver said.

Cigarette Kiss scoffed.

“Should we risk coming back this way? There’s always a chance Sunny and Elder may have to flee before we’re done, and if we all come back and no one’s here to open the door, we’re cornered,” Corpse said.

“We’ll let you know if we ever leave here for anything,” Sunny said.

“How?” Corpse asked.

“You’ll know.”

[*~~~~~

Apocalyto walked back to her safe house, exhausted, frustrated, and defeated.

She didn’t even care when a group of dracs jumped her.

Nor did she care when they pinned her to the ground, handcuffed her, and took her away.

No, she didn’t care at all.

~~~~~

Sonic’s heart was racing, she sprinted down block after block, BL/ind’s headquarters coming more and more into focus with each step.

She went through the plan in her head: Sunny and Elder were at the tunnel. Once she found it, and them, she could convince them to let her through the door and onto the playing field. From there she’d go straight to Korse herself, or at least take down as many dracs as possible. She could be the distraction the team needed to make this clean and quick.

Sonic was nearing BL/ind HQ, as she ran her adrenaline kept pumping until she felt she couldn’t take it any longer.

Today felt like a good day.

~~~~~

The team took a deep breath and then said their goodbyes. Toxic actually started tearing up as she said goodbye to Sunny. She hoped it wouldn’t be the last time, but you never know.

Cigarette Kiss modestly shook hands with Elder and waved to Sunny.

Cyanide gave hugs.

Elder didn’t say anything, but everyone knew what he meant.

Revolver awkwardly hung back, not knowing what to do.

Sunny was an emotional wreck, “You guys are like my family,” she said between tears, “I can’t lose you too.”

Corpse pulled her into a hug, “Shhhh, I know.”

“We’ll be back before you can say drac,” Toxic said jokingly. On that note, the team crawled through the door one by one, each carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.

~~~~~

The dracs had slammed Apocalyto into a cell in the local jail until one of their superiors would come for her. Her hands were still handcuffed behind her back.

“The hell….” She said crankily. This was just not her day. At least her prints weren't on file, it would take time before they realized who she was.

~~~~~

When the team arrived on the other side of the door, they were all business, the five of them were pressed up against each other inside the tiny storage closet. They maneuvered around each other got their ray guns out. Revolver had an extra one that Cigarette Kiss brought along.

“You ready for this?” Cigarette Kiss whispered.

The four nodded.

“Then let’s go,” with that Cigarette Kiss flung open the door and pointed his ray gun, they were met with a blindingly white hallway. It was empty. The team looked around before cautiously walking out of the closet. Lining the wall was pictures of exterminated killjoys and their murderers.

“This is wrong,” Toxic said.

“Which is why we have to make it right,” Corpse replied.

“Everyone know where they’re going?” Cyanide asked.

Most of them shook their heads, “Oh...well that’s why I packed these,” Cyanide took out two hologram projectors. With the push of a button a mini model of BL/ind headquarters appeared. He gave his to Corpse, who pocketed it, and passed the other to Toxic. Revolver didn't need one since she already knew the layout well enough.

“How on earth did you score those?” Cigarette Kiss asked.

Cyanide winked at him, “I have my ways.”

“So, this is where Korse is?” Toxic asked, pointing to the top floor of the hologram.

“Yup, all the way at the top,” Cyanide said grimly.

“How will we ever make it back down without being caught?!” Toxic exclaimed.

“We’ll find a way,” Cigarette Kiss said.

“I hope you’re right.” She mumbled.

“Love, can I see that for a moment?” Cyanide asked Corpse.

“Sure,” she said as she handed it over.

He pressed a button and the hologram sprung to life, “We have to go to the second floor, the lab takes over more than half of the floor. Right now we’re all in the lower levels, they aren't really used much,” Cyanide explained.

“How do we get from floor to floor without being seen?” Corpse asked.

“Very carefully.”

“Hey, what are you going to do Revolver? We kind of forgot to factor you into this...” Toxic said.

"A personal mission," she replied.

"Be safe," Corpse told her.

"I will. I'll try to help you guys along the way," Revolver promised.

~~~~~

Back in the tunnel Sunny and Elder were getting off to a good start. Sunny gained access to the security system within minutes. She re-routed the security guard’s feed with old ones that showed empty corridors, only she had the live feed.

Once they were done taking out the cameras and turning off the alarms, they sat back and watched the show.

“You want a drink?” Sunny asked Elder, digging around in her bag.

~~~~~

The four of them said their goodbyes, making them brief, but meaningful. They didn’t want to go the same way and risk all of them getting caught.

Cigarette Kiss and Toxic jogged off to the stairwell, while Corpse and Cyanide took the elevator. They only had to go up two floors, what could the elevator hurt? It was early enough. Hopefully the building was just starting to wake up.

While Corpse and Cyanide patiently waited for the elevator, they made small talk:

“So, do you really think we can do this?” Corpse asked, staring Cyanide in the eye.

“Of course we can,” he said, his eyes full of hope, “We have too.”

Just then the elevator dinged, they watched as the doors slowly slid open, ray guns out and pointing, anticipating someone on the other side. It was empty.

The cautiously entered, they searched the elevator, nothing seemed to be off. Cyanide pressed the ‘2’ button. As the door slid closed Corpse let out a sigh. She honestly couldn’t believe they’d gotten this far, it was then that she jinxed it.

“Hey, why is this stopping at the first floor?” Cyanide asked.

“What are you talking about?” Corpse said, looking at the little screen above the doors. Sure enough, instead of a ‘2’ there was a ‘1’, “Shit...” she muttered. Someone was getting on.

“What now?” Cyanide asked frantically. Corpse looked around, and then she looked up.

“There!” she pointed to the roof of the elevator; one of the ceiling tiles was different than the others. Cyanide reached up and pushed it. It slid aside with ease. As the elevator started slowing down, Cyanide lifted Corpse and pushed her up out of the elevator and onto the roof.

She reached back down and took his hand. Right as the elevator doors started to open she pulled him up. Just as a middle aged man with greying, black, slicked back hair, and piercing blue eyes that were sheltered behind thick rimmed glasses got on, Cyanide was pulled safely on top of the elevator.

Corpse peered through the hole at the man. He was wearing black slacks, a black tie, a crisp, neatly ironed oxford, and lab coat. On the lapel she could just make out a BL/ind workers ID.

She shook her head and quietly replaced the tile.

“Wait, the button is still lit up,” Corpse said with concern.

“Oh well, nothing we can do about it now.”

They both pressed their ear against the tile, trying to hear something. There was nothing.
Just then, the elevator stopped at the second floor, Corpse moved the tile aside a little, allowing her to see. Thankfully, the man got off. As soon as his foot left the elevator, Corpse and Cyanide jumped down into it. It shook upon their impact, and then was still.

They quickly got off the elevator, surveying the area. There were more people on this floor; they wouldn’t be invisible for long, even in their civilian clothes. They made a mad dash for the east wing, keeping their heads down. They ran into the first closet they could find.

“Okay, that’s a lot of people, how on earth do we get in and out without being caught?” Corpse asked.

Cyanide thought for a moment, “Can you act?”

Corpse gave him a long, hard look, “I don’t like where this is going.”

~~~~~

Toxic and Cigarette Kiss were making progress so far. They reached the second floor and still didn’t encounter anyone. They were starting on the next flight of stairs when they heard it, a door somewhere above opened loudly, and then shoes running down the stairs. They were approaching rather rapidly too.

They looked around, their only option was to go down and they couldn’t do that. Not now. They’d gotten too far. Besides, they couldn’t just run back to the basement every time someone came. It would waste too much time and energy.

So they stood there. They pressed themselves against the wall and waited. Finally the owner of the shoes appeared. It was an old man. He had snow white hair and a beard. His glasses were crescent shaped. He had a lab coat on and a BL/ind ID tag.

The poor man looked at them with wide eyes. Just as he reached for something in his pocket, Cigarette Kiss walked up and shot him with his ray gun. The old man’s lifeless body fell to the floor, blood starting to seep through this lab coat.

“What now?” Toxic asked.

“This,” Cigarette Kiss said, he dragged the man’s body over to the railing, and then hoisted him over. It took him what seemed like forever to reach the bottom, and then Toxic heard the sickening crack of his skull. She shuddered, they moved onward.

~~~~~

While they did their thing, Revolver waited in the hallway. She had a score or two to settle. Under the basement was a hidden lab no one knew about. It was where human testing was. She had a plan to take it down. When Cigarette Kiss wasn’t looking, she had swiped a grenade from his bag. Now was the time to put it to good use.

~~~~~

Cyanide looked around the closet until he found what he was looking for, a lab coat. Out of his pocket he pulled a name tag.

“I made one of these babies before we left. Apocalyto let me use her computer.”

Corse stared in awe as he handed her one. She examined the name printed on the tag and scoffed, "Jade Fox. What am I, a stripper?" She asked incredulously.

Cyanide laughed and put his lab coat on, attaching his name tag in the process. As he got his outfit together Corpse looked around as well. Nothing useful was there. She sighed, then slipped on a lab coat herself.

“You ready?” Cyanide asked. He looked official.

“Sure,” she said in a deadpan voice.

“Let’s get this show on the road then,” with that he swung open the door. He walked out like he belonged there.

He confidently made his way to the east wing, Corpse following awkwardly behind. Some people smiled at Cyanide, others gave him dirty looks. He had dyed his hair back to its natural color this morning, black. He had been sad, but wanted to blend in better. They had all showered this morning too to look more presentable.

When they arrived at the wing Cyanide examined the giant double doors. There was a key pad. He cursed to himself. He didn’t have the key. He had forgotten that the doors were sealed. He swore to himself again. He subtly looked up at the nearby security camera, hoping Sunny was watching, and then pointed to the key pad. Corpse and Cyanide moved over to a corner, making nonsense conversation while they waited for a sign.

~~~~~

Thankfully, Sunny was indeed watching. She used her software to hack into BL/ind’s main base and ran the codes. As she waited for it to process the right one, she watched them.

So far no one was bothering them, that was a good sign. She hoped it stayed that way. As she got lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the code pop up on her screen.

Elder threw his apple core at her.

“Hey!” she said. He frantically pointed to the screen.

“Oh, thanks...” she said.

Now to get the code to Cy and Corpse. As she watched the security feed, she spotted a nearby computer. Sunny zoomed in and got the username and password from the lady at the front desk who was just logging in.

Switching back to BL/ind’s main system, she hacked the woman’s computer. She used Morse code to send the password over to Cy by blacking out the screen and popping it back up again, hoping he’s see. Until then she replayed it over and over again.

~~~~~

“Hey! My computers on the fritz!” a woman suddenly exclaimed. Cyanide and Corpse looked over. Her computer screen looked like it was going through some kind of seizure. The woman curtly got up and walked over to where the computer lab was.

He almost turned around, until Corpse stopped him, “Isn’t that Morse code?”

“Hey...” Cyanide said, “It is,” Sunny had pulled through after all. He carefully watched the screen a couple times until he had it down. Turning back to the key pad he punched in the code, praying it would work.

To his fortune, the doors slid open. He said a silent prayer and sent a thumbs up the the camera. They were in.

When the woman arrived at her desk with a man to help her, she discovered her computer was running perfectly fine again.

~~~~~

Sunny did a mini victory dance. She never knew she could be this helpful without actually being out in the field. She switched her screens to check on Toxic and Cig. That’s when she spotted the dead body in the stairwell. ‘Well, that isn’t good,’ she said to herself.

~~~~~

After the incident, Toxic and Cig didn’t see anyone else. It was at the sixth floor that they reached a dilemma. The stairs ended here.

"What now?" Toxic asked in a frustrated voice, throwing her hands up in the air.

“Good question,” Cigarette Kiss mumbled, “Looks like boy wonder never anticipated this,” he said, talking of Cyanide.

“Looks like we have no choice but to get off in here and see where we go,” Toxic said, reaching for the handle.

“Now, hold on,” Cigarette Kiss said, grabbing her hand and pulling her back, “Let’s check the map,” Toxic willingly handed it over to him. They opened it and scanned the floor.

“It looks like offices,” Toxic said.

“Don’t be deceived,” Cigarette Kiss said, “Something more sinister lingers here.”

She looked at him, a hint of fear in her eyes, “What kind of place is this?”

“Hell,” he answered curtly.

~~~~~

Sonic had finally reached Better Living Industries. She looked at the building in awe. It was pure white. All the windows were huge and made of glass. After taking a moment to admire the building and catch her breath, Sonic looked around, checking for signs of her team. As she scanned the area, she noticed foot marks in the mud down below in the creek/moat. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, she jumped in and followed them. They led into the forest. Once she was inside, she frantically searched. Farther in she found the hole. The top was lying, discarded by the side. She shook her head. Her team was terrible at covering tracks.

She took out a flashlight, and slowly made her descent. When her foot hit the last rung she hopped off and looked around. There was only one way to go. As she got farther up the tunnel, she made out the shapes of two people; she was assuming they were Sunny and Elder. At the thought of seeing them again, she ran, her footsteps echoing off the walls.

Sunny and Elder were frightened by the sudden noise and turned around, just in time to get an armful of Sonic.

“What are you doing here?!” Sunny exclaimed in disbelief, Elder still hugging Sonic.

“I wanted to help,” Sonic explained.

“But, Apocalyto..."

Sonic sat down with the two of them and started explaining, from Raezorr Storm all the way up until now.

They listened intently, Elder was just relieved she was back. Sunny’s eyes would wonder to her computer screen every once and a while, checking up on things. That was when she saw the same thing Toxic and Cigarette Kiss had seen.

“Hang on, there’s no stairs to the seventh floor!” she exclaimed.

“Well yeah,” Sonic said, “That would just be dumb on Korse’s part.”

“How will they get there now?”

Sonic perked up, “I’ll go! I can run up to the sixth floor and be a distraction. I can give them time!”

“NO!” Sunny commanded, “What is it with you and wanting to die?” she asked in disbelief.

“You guys are all I have left, I just want to help you,” she said quietly.

Elder looked at Sonic with concern.

“Ugh, fine,” Sunny finally said, “There are no more holograms left though.”

“That’s okay, I’ll figure it out,” Sonic said with a smile.

Sunny hugged her, “You better make it back, or else it’s my head.”

Elder walked up to Sonic, Don’t leave! he wrote, I just got you back. You’re the only family I have left. I don’t want you to get hurt. He looked at her with big eyes, starting to tear up.

Sonic hugged him tight, “I’ll be back in a flash big brother.”

As they hugged, Sunny opened the door for her, “Now, once you get through this door, you’ll find yourself in a janitor’s closet. Once you exit there, make a left. That will take you to the stairwell Toxic and Cigarette Kiss used.”

Sonic nodded and turned towards the door.

“Oh wait, you’re going to see something disturbing in there, don’t scream, don’t stare, ignore it.”

Sonic gave her a look, “O...kay.”

“See ya on the other side,” Sunny said.

Sonic saluted her and then with that, she left. Sunny closed the door behind her. She let out a much needed sigh. Eagerly she ran back to her screen, watching Sonic. As she entered the stairwell, she gasped, but did as Sunny instructed, making her way around the body and up the stairs, ray gun handy.

~~~~~

Toxic and Cigarette Kiss were on the other side of the door now.

“So much for office buildings.” Toxic said.

Yes, there were some office buildings, but it was mostly BL/ind lab workers.

“This must be the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/ unit,” Cigarette Kiss said grimly.

The whole floor was taken up by rows and rows of S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/S, some being made and others already finished. The finished ones were getting weapons from a scrawny bald man. He wrote something down on a clip board as each passed by.

Toxic and Cigarette Kiss both looked up. The roof extended hundreds of feet above their heads.

“That’s why this place looks so tall from the outside,” Cigarette Kiss mumbled.

“So, how do we get to the seventh floor?” Toxic asked.

Cig looked around, “There has to be some way….”

“How do we get past this?”

“Look like you belong,” he said looking down at Toxic.

~~~~~

Once on the other side of the door Cyanide looked around. This place was all too familiar to him.

“Follow me,” he said beckoning to Corpse.

They made their way through a maze of people and vats of various liquids. A woman stopped them. She had curly blonde hair, not a strand out of place, and cold blue eyes. Her eyelashes were coated with makeup and her lips were an unnatural shade of pink.

She peered down at them, “Who exactly, are you?” she asked, her shrill voice cut through the atmosphere.

Cyanide held up his tag, he was prepared, “Aiden Wells, I was hired by Korse personally to run special missions. I’ve just gotten back and need to check on some things in the lab.”

The woman looked at him skeptically with doubt in her eyes, and something else. Something Cyanide knew all too well.

Fear.

“Look,” Cyanide said in an exasperated tone, “Do you want me to call Korse and make him come all the way down here just to solve this little issue?” he asked in a condescending tone.

“N...no sir,” she said, stumbling over her words, “Carry on.”

Cyanide confidently walked away, Corpse at his heels.

“Wait,” she said, “Who is she?” she pointed to Corpse.

“None of your business!” Cyanide snapped as Corpse attempted to hold up her name tag. The woman humphed and walked away, clip board in hand.

Cyanide grabbed Corpse and sped towards the lab, “Look, that’ll buy us some time, but eventually you know she’s going to tell someone about us.”

Corpse nodded.

“We need to do this fast.”

They reached the lab doors, which opened automatically. On the other side they were met by rows and rows of research, documents, and formulas.

“Wow….” Cyanide said, “This place definitely did not look this full last time I was here...”

*A/N: CLIFFHANGER! Please rate and review. Thanks! Hope your liking it so far.

-Alex