Categories > Celebrities > My Chemical Romance > You Only Live Forever In The Lights You Make
Chapter Twenty: Dead!
3 reviewsNEW CHAPTER! The thrilling sequal to the chapter SING. Enjoy :D
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*A/N: Here’s the second part of our finale!
*Edit: Okay....so it turns out I did finish the story before I went back to school....
Chapter Twenty: Dead!
Cigarette Kiss walked cockily through the room, Toxic followed behind, trying her best to avoid looking at anyone.
As they passed doors Toxic peered in, looking for anything, hidden stairs, a concealed elevator, Korse himself, anything.
“Hey!” a voice suddenly called, “Kevin, what are you doing back here?”
Toxic’s blood ran cold. Not just because Cigarette Kiss’s real name was Kevin (and totally didn’t fit), but because they were recognized.
The young man walked up to them, “Uh,” Cigarette Kiss stammered, “He brought me back, persuaded me to run another mission.”
“Oh,” the guy said. It was apparent they were friends, “Well, it’s good to have you back. At least there’s one familiar face I actually WANT to come here to see. I do have to say, I'm surprised he took you back.”
“Uh, yeah. Me too.” Cig said, his unease dissipating to friendliness.
“Who’s this?” he asked pointing to Toxic.
“A friend, she was hired by Korse too,” the man raised an eyebrow and looked at her.
Then he walked close to the two of them, “Listen,” he said, looking at Toxic, "get out of this while you still can.”
She gave him a confused look.
“Look Kevin, things have changed here. Some of us don’t like how this is running anymore, most of us were forced to work here, taken from our homes and families. Some of us started a group,” he laughed to himself, “We’re like rebels, but we don’t do anything about it.”
“But...aren't you all brainwashed into thinking that everything is perfect?” Toxic asked.
“Not us. We and the lab workers were left normal. Sometimes we need our logic and reason to make these creations perfect.”
Toxic nodded, “In that case then, exactly how many of you are there?”
Cigarette Kiss looked at her, puzzled.
“Oh, there’s about-wait, why are you so interested now? You’re working for him too, aren’t you!”
At this point the man’s voice was growing louder, laced with fear.
“Hey!” Cigarette Kiss said firmly, grabbing his shoulders, “Valentine, calm down,” he said slowly. The man, appeared to be called Valentine, started to do just that. His breathing slowed and his eyes relaxed.
“We won’t get you in trouble, trust me,” Toxic told him.
“Okay,” he said removing Cigarette Kiss’s hands; he looked Toxic in the eye, “There are more of us than you think.”
Toxic looked back at him, “Could you help us?”
Cigarette Kiss looked at her sternly, “Do you trust him?” she asked him.
“Yes.”
“Then tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Valentine asked, getting confused.
“Hey!” a voice barked, the loud noise scaring them all, “Valentine, back to work!”
“Yeah, yeah, in a minute!” Valentine shouted back.
The man walked over to him, “Don’t give me that crap Jimmy, get back to work, or else.” The two stared at each other, and then the elder walked off.
“Jimmy” turned back to Cigarette Kiss and Toxic, “Sorry about him. I do have to make this quick though, nowadays, they don’t fire you if you’re caught slacking. They do much, much worse.”
“In that case,” Toxic said, “We’ll try to hurry.”
Quickly they filled him in on almost everything, just what they thought he needed to know.
“Do you think you can get the word out to all the rebels you trust?” Toxic asked him.
“Of course, when do you want us to do this?”
“When you start hearing commotion,” Cigarette Kiss said.
“Remember, take down as many unmade, and made, S/C/A/R/E/C/RO/W/S as you guys can,” Toxic told him.
“Okay,” he said.
“Thanks Jimmy,” Cigarette Kiss said, genuine emotions were showing in his eyes.
“No problemo Kevin,” he said back.
“Please, it’s Cigarette Kiss,” he said, his cockiness coming back.
Jimmy just smiled at him devilishly, "I knew you could never quit that life," he said, and then walked away.
“WAIT!” Toxic called. He turned back, puzzled, “How do we get up to the seventh floor?”
“Oh,” he said, “Well, you see…”
~~~~~
Cyanide and Corpse looked around carefully; they were alone in the room thankfully.
“Do you remember where the folder was last time you were here?” she asked him.
“Yeah but I doubt it’s there now!” he said, frustrated. He grabbed a nearby ladder and took it over to one of the middle shelves. Corpse stood by the door, checking if anyone was coming.
Cyanide set up the ladder and quickly began climbing. One he got to the file cabinet he wanted, he rifled through it.
“Find it?” Corpse asked.
“No, it's not - hello beautiful!” he said triumphantly. Corpse walked over, Cyanide dropped it into her waiting hands then jumped off the ladder, replacing it to its previous position.
“I think we’ve found it,” he said.
~~~~~
Sonic was taking the stairs two at a time, her adrenaline rush giving her more energy. Once she reached the second floor, she stopped. Should she keep going, or try to do something here? Wasn’t this were Cyanide and Corpse were?
She looked down at herself; her civilian clothes had a couple spots of dirt on them, but otherwise were remotely clean.
She checked her ray gun, it was full. In her bag she had extra juice for it. She also had a few other things, emergency only.
With that said and done she sent out a prayer, and opened the door.
~~~~~
Once Cyanide and Corpse were sure they had the right folder they left the room, making sure everything was put back the way it was.
They opened the door to leave and in front of them was a whole group of dracs, led by no other than a women the killjoys had confirmed to be Korse’s right hand woman. They believed her name to be Airi Isoda, but they weren’t sure. She was an Asian woman of average height with strikingly pale skin and sleek, black hair cut into a stylistic bob with straight across bangs. She had on a simple grey suit and black heels.
At first glance you’d assume she was a respectable business woman, but as the killjoys all knew, to assume is to make an ass out of u and me. She was highly dangerous, a lethal weapon. In her hands she had a shiny, white BL/ind issued ray gun.
Corpse and Cyanide froze in their tracks.
She smiled, it looked genuine almost, “Give me the folder please,” she said, her voice light and airy.
Cyanide clutched it tighter, “Over my dead body, lady.”
“That can be arranged. Boys,” she said gesturing to the dracs behind her, “Get them.”
Just then, the sound of a ray gun firing cut through the air. The woman fell to the ground, a smoldering hole in her head. Everyone looked around, panicked. Some of the workers nearby were running towards the exit. Corpse and Cyanide swiveled around; there stood Sonic, prouder than ever.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” Corpse screeched.
“Helping.”
Suddenly, the dracs turned and opened fire on Sonic; she dodged behind a vat of some sort of liquid, their ray blasts bouncing off the glass.
Corpse and Cyanide proceeded to open fire as well, dodging stray ray blasts, in a matter of minutes all the dracs were dead.
“You okay?” Corpse called to Sonic.
“Yeah boss.”
Hesitantly they made their way over to each other. Corpse stared at her, “Why are you here? Where’s Apocalyto?”
“I had to help you. I’ve been having nightmares since you guys left. I felt that something was bound to go wrong. I had to be here with you guys, and she’s fine,” Sonic told her.
“Well, that’s all fine and dandy, but what you did was very risky!” Cyanide said.
“You guys aren’t my parents,” she said defiantly.
“But we care about you,” Corpse said, “We’re the only family each other has.”
Just then more ray blasts were heard, some whizzing past their heads.
“Looks like we gotta go!” Cyanide yelled, pulling the both of them further into the labs, “Emergency stairs are on the other end.”
“Won’t they be there too?”
“It’s our only option.”
They ran, shooting any nearing dracs.
“Wait!” Sonic said suddenly, “This place has to be taken down. As long as the lab is still here, Better Living Industries will never stop.”
“Yes, but that's for another day. We have what we came for. We’re done here,” Cyanide said.
“No,” Sonic said, “They killed my family. I can’t let them get away with it.”
With that, Sonic turned around and raised her ray gun, she dug around her bag with her free hand and pulled another out.
“GO!” she shouted to them.
“No! We can’t leave you! What about family? Us?” Corpse shouted over the roar of gunfire.
“I just had a realization moment,” Sonic said, “It. Ends. Here. No more,” she pulled a grenade from her bag, “I’ll hold them off for as long as I can, but after that, I’m pulling this baby.”
Corpse’s eyes were tearing up. Sonic was crazy! And apparently suicidal, “You don’t know what you’re saying,” she told Sonic, “Come one, put it away and lets go.”
“No,” Sonic said firmly.
“God, why are you always so stubborn?!” It was a miracle none of them had been hit by stray gunfire.
“Just go! Help Toxic and Cigarette Kiss. Please, just go,” with that Sonic turned around and started shooting more oncoming dracs.
Corpse couldn’t tear her eyes away. It was like a movie playing before her. Cyanide gently started dragging her, “Come one you heard her, we gotta go!”
She snapped out of the trance and ran, following Cyanide.
~~~~~
Revolver searched the walls of the basement thoroughly, looking for the secret entrance to go below. After almost an hour she finally found it. With a ‘click’ the wall panel separated in to, showing the inside of an elevator. Tentatively she stepped in and pressed the only button available.
She took her ray gun out and waited. While she rode down she fingered the grenade. She couldn’t believe she was finally going to do this.
~~~~~
Toxic and Cigarette Kiss were forever grateful to Jimmy. It turned out one of the many office doors was merely a hologram. One could walk right through it. They would enter a landing with a single, seemingly never-ending set of stairs.
Cigarette Kiss and Toxic hesitantly made their way up them, ray guns drawn, ready for traps.
They knew this climb wouldn’t be easy.
~~~~~
Sunny and Elder were watching the screen, their eyes glued to it. It looked like the fun had started. Sonic was taking on hundreds of dracs at once. She pushed a vat of liquid over on a horde of them, they disintegrated where they stood. Sunny was horrified. Elder’s eyes were wide.
On another screen they watched the seventh floor. They were just in time to see Toxic and Cigarette Kiss vanish into a door. Sunny was amazed. They seemed to walk through it. She flipped through all the cameras. She didn’t have a visual into whatever was on the other side of that door. She cursed and kicked over her soda can. She felt blind.
She switched screens again and found Revolver disappearing into an elevator that seemed to appear from the wall.
“What the...” Sunny exclaimed.
Then her screens switched over to Corpse and Cyanide, running for the nearest exit. Sunny checked the stairwell they were headed to; a group of dracs was heading up it. Sunny cursed.
She switched back to the sixth floor, there was a riot going on. Her eyes grew wide. The workers where fighting back.
~~~~~
“Shhh,” Corpse said, “Do you hear that?”
“What?” Cyanide asked.
“Upstairs, it sounds like...” she paused and listened, then her head snapped towards Cyanide, “shouting. And gunfire.”
He too listened. Sure enough, he heard it, “What did Toxic and Cigarette Kiss do now?”
~~~~~
“COME ON! YOU CAN SHOOT BETTER THAN THAT!” Jimmy Valentine shouted at a pair of in-coming dracs. They attempted to hit him with their ray guns; he dodged each move and shot back a few of his own. He had stolen one of the guns they gave the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/S.
In a matter of minutes he had shot down the dracs. All around him his fellow workers were doing the same thing. They were destroying all the unfinished S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/S while fighting off others. Stray ray gun blasts were flying around the room. Objects were flying everywhere. Display racks could be heard crashing to the ground. The once white walls were stained with blood and burn marks.
Jimmy shouted commands to some nearby co-workers. Some had fled to the lower levels, the loyal ones, but most stayed and fought. They fought for their families, their freedom, and now, their lives. Jimmy took down a few more before looking around. Some of his co-workers were dead. He wasn’t really affected until he saw one body in particular.
When his eyes landed on it, all his emotions shut down. All he felt was hate, hate and blood lust. He raised his gun high in fury, his eyes only seeing red, and ran at every drac in his way.
He shot them all down, one by one, dodging their blasts like a pro, kicking and screaming like a banshee, a crazed smile on his face. He probably could’ve taken all of them down if it wasn’t for the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/.
It came up out of nowhere behind him.
One shot to the head and he was dead. His gun cluttered to the ground, his body followed, crumpling in a heap. His lifeless eyes forever open staring at nothing, his mouth forever frozen in a twisted smile.
The S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/ merely looked at the body then walked on, looking for more victims.
~~~~~
Toxic and Cigarette Kiss were a fourth of the way up their stairs when the first trap went off. Cigarette Kiss heard it first, the click of a gun. In a split second he knocked himself and Toxic down on the ground. The next moment guns protruded from the wall, shooting at the stairs.
Toxic screamed in surprise, Cigarette Kiss covered her head. They waited. A few minutes later all fire ceased. Hesitantly, they lifted their heads. Making sure it was over, they stood up.
“Thanks,” Toxic said awkwardly.
“No prob.”
They continued on, eyes and ears alert.
Waiting for anything.
~~~~~
Revolver heard the ‘ding’ of the elevator as she reached her destination.
Once the doors opened she opened fire, taking down everything within range. Soon enough, shots were fired back at her. She ducked and hit the floor, pulling the pin of the grenade out with her teeth; she threw it as far as her arms would allow her, and then hit the up button and closed the doors.
As the elevator made its ascent she held her breath. And then she felt it, the grenade went off. She heard screams mixed with a noise loud enough to wake the dead. As her elevator went up it shook violently in the shaft. Revolver was thrown from wall to wall.
Then all was still, the doors opened and she found herself back in the basement. When she
climbed out of the elevator she was greeted by the same scene she had left. Nothing up here had changed. The underground labs were so far below the surface that the explosion probably didn’t even register up here.
With a smile, Revolver made her way towards the stairwell. She went up to the third floor to see what she could do.
~~~~~
“Hey, did you feel that?” Sunny asked Elder.
He nodded.
“What the heck is Revolver doing down there?” Sunny asked. Just then she saw Revolver flash on the screen, only this time she was going into the stairwell. The drac infested stairwell, to be exact.
“UGH!” Sunny suddenly screamed, “I CAN’T JUST SIT HERE AND WATCH WHILE PEOPLE ARE DYING OUT THERE!” She kicked her pile of soda cans in anger. They went flying down the tunnel, some hitting Elder.
Elder nodded sympathetically, I know. He wrote.
Sunny sat back down, defeated. She just hoped her team would hurry up. She checked her watch, it was 9:11.
~~~~~
When Corpse and Cyanide burst through the stairwell, they were met by a horde of dracs.
“Oh come ON!” Cyanide shouted. He raised his ray gun and started shooting, Corpse backing him up. He peeked around them and saw Revolver down below; she was shooting the dracs down as well.
Once the trio cleared the stairwell they ran to her, hoping to reach ground level before the next wave of dracs hit.
“Did you finish your mission?” Corpse asked her.
“Yeah, now I was just coming up here to see if you need help.”
“No we’re fine, we were just leaving,” Cyanide said.
“But Sonic...” Corpse said. Revolver raised an eyebrow.
“She’s doing fine, we all know her, she’ll make it out,” Cyanide said.
“I hope so,” Corpse said, looking back.
“Where to now?” Revolver asked.
“Upstairs?” Cyanide offered.
~~~~~
Toxic and Cigarette Kiss were now halfway up the stairs, they hadn’t encountered anything else so far, they were hoping that Korse just assumed people died after the first trap, but you know what assuming does.
Just as Toxic was about to take another step, Cigarette Kiss held her back, “Hold on.”
“What?” she asked.
“Look,” he pointed to the step, “Something’s off. The coloring isn’t right and it looks fake, it’s probably a pressure plate. Once someone steps on it, it sets it off.” Cigarette Kiss stepped over the step onto the next one. He very carefully applied pressure, nothing happened. Deeming the step above the false one safe, he stepped up on it. Then he carefully made his way up the rest of the stairs, Toxic watching from her position.
“I think it’s safe,” he said.
Just then two arrows came whizzing out of nowhere straight for his stomach.
~~~~~
Cyanide, Corpse, and Revolver arrived at the third floor. It was chaos. Stray blasts were going everywhere, the bodies of dracs, people, and S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/S littered the floor.
“Whoa..” Revolver said.
“Looks like we better help,” Corpse said drawing her ray gun. The other two followed her. Then, they made their way into the fray.
~~~~~
Cigarette Kiss ducked just in time, the arrow missed his vitals, but it caught his arm. He yelped in pain.
Toxic, forgetting everything else, ran towards him, stepping on the false step. The stairs collapsed and turned into a giant slide. Toxic grabbed onto the railing for support, Cigarette Kiss did too with his good arm.
Hesitantly, Toxic tried to stand. The bottom of her high tops had a loose grip on the steel. She managed to walk some of the way up while still holding onto the railing before she fell again.
“By the time we get up there, all our energy will be gone,” Cigarette Kiss said with a raspy laugh, his arm bleeding still.
“You got that right,” she said, pushing her hair out of her face, “Did they really have to make it this hard?”
Toxic stood up and tried again, this time getting a more firm grip in the railing with both hands. She moved slowly, but at least she was moving.
When she was level with Cigarette Kiss, she jumped to his side, slamming into the railing. It was then that she looked down and realized how high up she really was.
The sun was starting to reach the middle of the sky, its rays spilling into the glass dome above them, illuminating the room better. Toxic’s eyes grew wide. If you were to fall over the railing, you’d definitely die.
Shaking, she turned back to Cig, “Can you stand?” he nodded weakly.
Using his good arm he pulled himself up, Toxic helped him with her free arm.
He looked at her, “Let’s go.”
Slowly but surely, they made their way up the metal slide.
~~~~~
Sunny and Elder were watching Corpse, Cyanide, and Revolver fight with anticipation. It was like they were watching a movie, but this time it was very, very real.
~~~~~
After fifteen agonizing minutes Toxic and Cigarette Kiss finally reached the top.
“Are you okay?” she asked with concern as she looked at him.
“Yeah I’m fine; it was just a nick, no major blood loss.”
“You sure?” she asked, he nodded, “Okay then, let’s do this,” with that she tried the handle of the door. It was locked.
They both cursed.
Toxic took out her ray gun and shot the handle, it broke up with ease. She pried the door open and then jumped inside, Cigarette Kiss at her heels.
They were met by at least twenty dracs led by Korse himself.
“Hello, how lovely to see you,” he said with a smile.
~~~~~
“I think we should go,” Corpse finally said after a while.
Revolver agreed.
“What about Toxic and Cigarette Kiss?” Cyanide asked.
Corpse looked at him, “You wanna go help them?”
“Sure, why not?” Revolver said, “It looks like we’re actually doing pretty well here. They shouldn’t need our help anymore,” she said speaking of the workers.
~~~~~
Toxic and Cig were stuck. They just stood there until Cigarette Kiss raised his gun with his good hand, “This is for my brother,” he shot Korse in the head.
The man laughed, and then fell to the ground. The dracs opened fire on them.
Toxic and Cigarette Kiss ducked and then jumped down the slide. Just as Cigarette Kiss looked back, he saw that Korse had gotten up, half his face had melted away. Underneath the skin was metal.
“He’s a robot!” Cigarette Kiss yelled at Toxic. She turned back and started shooting at Korse, he laughed at them the whole time until eventually he short circuited and fell still.
The dracs made no move to follow them.
Once Toxic and Cigarette Kiss reached the door they bolted out it. On the other side they ran straight into Cyanide and Corpse.
“Did you get him?” they asked.
“Yes, but it was too easy. They expected us. It was a robot. Korse is a robot!” Cyanide shouted at them over the chaos.
“If they made him, they’ll just make more. It’s no use. He’ll never die, you need to hit the factory where they make him!” Toxic shouted.
Cyanide threw up his hands in despair, “Why must this always happen?” just then a fresh group of S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/S and dracs arrived from the stairwell. Everyone stared at them in horror.
“We’re outnumbered!” Cigarette Kiss shouted, their worker allies were being mowed down around them.
“Which is why we should leave!” Cyanide shouted back.
“But Sonic!” Corpse shouted, distressed. She ran off towards the exit of the lab, everyone else followed.
“What do you mean, Sonic’s HERE!” Toxic said.
“Yeah, she decided to stay back on the second floor and hold them off,” Corpse explained as they ran.
“ALONE!”
“It was her choice,” Cyanide said.
The team sprinted down to the second floor using the emergency stairwell on the other side of the building; Corpse saw a security camera and stopped dead in her tracks.
“SUNNY, ELDER! GO, LEAVE, RUN! Get out of that tunnel and go back to the hideout! We’ll meet you there!” Corpse shouted frantically at the machine, "You did a good job," she said with a smile.
“Come on!” Cyanide said, tugging her away.
~~~~~
Sunny and Elder didn’t need to be told twice. They quickly gathered up the equipment and shoved it in their bags; they did a quick check to make sure they had everything, and then ran down the tunnel. Halfway down Sunny remembered something.
“OH SHIT!” she swore. She then turned heel and sprinted back to the door. Elder made a noise of agitation. Sunny dropped to her hands and knees and opened the little door, putting a coke can in it to prop it open. Then she ran back to Elder, both their eyes wide with fear.
When they reached the ladder they almost couldn’t climb fast enough. Their adrenaline was rushing, the blood pounded in their ears. Once they reached the surface Sunny let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding.
She bent down to grab Elder’s bag while he pulled himself out. They reached the edge of the forest and looked onwards, there were dracs everywhere.
“Looks like we’re gonna have to go another way,” Sunny said to Elder. He nodded.
With that being said, they hoisted their bags on their backs and sped off. By now it was noon, the residents of the city would be out and about.
As they ran they prayed the team made it out alive.
*A/N: Rate? Review? I want to know what your thoughts on this were. Thanks! :X
Whew, my head is spinning. I just spent the last five-ish hours putting this chapter together….hope you liked it.
-Alex
*Edit: Okay....so it turns out I did finish the story before I went back to school....
Chapter Twenty: Dead!
Cigarette Kiss walked cockily through the room, Toxic followed behind, trying her best to avoid looking at anyone.
As they passed doors Toxic peered in, looking for anything, hidden stairs, a concealed elevator, Korse himself, anything.
“Hey!” a voice suddenly called, “Kevin, what are you doing back here?”
Toxic’s blood ran cold. Not just because Cigarette Kiss’s real name was Kevin (and totally didn’t fit), but because they were recognized.
The young man walked up to them, “Uh,” Cigarette Kiss stammered, “He brought me back, persuaded me to run another mission.”
“Oh,” the guy said. It was apparent they were friends, “Well, it’s good to have you back. At least there’s one familiar face I actually WANT to come here to see. I do have to say, I'm surprised he took you back.”
“Uh, yeah. Me too.” Cig said, his unease dissipating to friendliness.
“Who’s this?” he asked pointing to Toxic.
“A friend, she was hired by Korse too,” the man raised an eyebrow and looked at her.
Then he walked close to the two of them, “Listen,” he said, looking at Toxic, "get out of this while you still can.”
She gave him a confused look.
“Look Kevin, things have changed here. Some of us don’t like how this is running anymore, most of us were forced to work here, taken from our homes and families. Some of us started a group,” he laughed to himself, “We’re like rebels, but we don’t do anything about it.”
“But...aren't you all brainwashed into thinking that everything is perfect?” Toxic asked.
“Not us. We and the lab workers were left normal. Sometimes we need our logic and reason to make these creations perfect.”
Toxic nodded, “In that case then, exactly how many of you are there?”
Cigarette Kiss looked at her, puzzled.
“Oh, there’s about-wait, why are you so interested now? You’re working for him too, aren’t you!”
At this point the man’s voice was growing louder, laced with fear.
“Hey!” Cigarette Kiss said firmly, grabbing his shoulders, “Valentine, calm down,” he said slowly. The man, appeared to be called Valentine, started to do just that. His breathing slowed and his eyes relaxed.
“We won’t get you in trouble, trust me,” Toxic told him.
“Okay,” he said removing Cigarette Kiss’s hands; he looked Toxic in the eye, “There are more of us than you think.”
Toxic looked back at him, “Could you help us?”
Cigarette Kiss looked at her sternly, “Do you trust him?” she asked him.
“Yes.”
“Then tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Valentine asked, getting confused.
“Hey!” a voice barked, the loud noise scaring them all, “Valentine, back to work!”
“Yeah, yeah, in a minute!” Valentine shouted back.
The man walked over to him, “Don’t give me that crap Jimmy, get back to work, or else.” The two stared at each other, and then the elder walked off.
“Jimmy” turned back to Cigarette Kiss and Toxic, “Sorry about him. I do have to make this quick though, nowadays, they don’t fire you if you’re caught slacking. They do much, much worse.”
“In that case,” Toxic said, “We’ll try to hurry.”
Quickly they filled him in on almost everything, just what they thought he needed to know.
“Do you think you can get the word out to all the rebels you trust?” Toxic asked him.
“Of course, when do you want us to do this?”
“When you start hearing commotion,” Cigarette Kiss said.
“Remember, take down as many unmade, and made, S/C/A/R/E/C/RO/W/S as you guys can,” Toxic told him.
“Okay,” he said.
“Thanks Jimmy,” Cigarette Kiss said, genuine emotions were showing in his eyes.
“No problemo Kevin,” he said back.
“Please, it’s Cigarette Kiss,” he said, his cockiness coming back.
Jimmy just smiled at him devilishly, "I knew you could never quit that life," he said, and then walked away.
“WAIT!” Toxic called. He turned back, puzzled, “How do we get up to the seventh floor?”
“Oh,” he said, “Well, you see…”
~~~~~
Cyanide and Corpse looked around carefully; they were alone in the room thankfully.
“Do you remember where the folder was last time you were here?” she asked him.
“Yeah but I doubt it’s there now!” he said, frustrated. He grabbed a nearby ladder and took it over to one of the middle shelves. Corpse stood by the door, checking if anyone was coming.
Cyanide set up the ladder and quickly began climbing. One he got to the file cabinet he wanted, he rifled through it.
“Find it?” Corpse asked.
“No, it's not - hello beautiful!” he said triumphantly. Corpse walked over, Cyanide dropped it into her waiting hands then jumped off the ladder, replacing it to its previous position.
“I think we’ve found it,” he said.
~~~~~
Sonic was taking the stairs two at a time, her adrenaline rush giving her more energy. Once she reached the second floor, she stopped. Should she keep going, or try to do something here? Wasn’t this were Cyanide and Corpse were?
She looked down at herself; her civilian clothes had a couple spots of dirt on them, but otherwise were remotely clean.
She checked her ray gun, it was full. In her bag she had extra juice for it. She also had a few other things, emergency only.
With that said and done she sent out a prayer, and opened the door.
~~~~~
Once Cyanide and Corpse were sure they had the right folder they left the room, making sure everything was put back the way it was.
They opened the door to leave and in front of them was a whole group of dracs, led by no other than a women the killjoys had confirmed to be Korse’s right hand woman. They believed her name to be Airi Isoda, but they weren’t sure. She was an Asian woman of average height with strikingly pale skin and sleek, black hair cut into a stylistic bob with straight across bangs. She had on a simple grey suit and black heels.
At first glance you’d assume she was a respectable business woman, but as the killjoys all knew, to assume is to make an ass out of u and me. She was highly dangerous, a lethal weapon. In her hands she had a shiny, white BL/ind issued ray gun.
Corpse and Cyanide froze in their tracks.
She smiled, it looked genuine almost, “Give me the folder please,” she said, her voice light and airy.
Cyanide clutched it tighter, “Over my dead body, lady.”
“That can be arranged. Boys,” she said gesturing to the dracs behind her, “Get them.”
Just then, the sound of a ray gun firing cut through the air. The woman fell to the ground, a smoldering hole in her head. Everyone looked around, panicked. Some of the workers nearby were running towards the exit. Corpse and Cyanide swiveled around; there stood Sonic, prouder than ever.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” Corpse screeched.
“Helping.”
Suddenly, the dracs turned and opened fire on Sonic; she dodged behind a vat of some sort of liquid, their ray blasts bouncing off the glass.
Corpse and Cyanide proceeded to open fire as well, dodging stray ray blasts, in a matter of minutes all the dracs were dead.
“You okay?” Corpse called to Sonic.
“Yeah boss.”
Hesitantly they made their way over to each other. Corpse stared at her, “Why are you here? Where’s Apocalyto?”
“I had to help you. I’ve been having nightmares since you guys left. I felt that something was bound to go wrong. I had to be here with you guys, and she’s fine,” Sonic told her.
“Well, that’s all fine and dandy, but what you did was very risky!” Cyanide said.
“You guys aren’t my parents,” she said defiantly.
“But we care about you,” Corpse said, “We’re the only family each other has.”
Just then more ray blasts were heard, some whizzing past their heads.
“Looks like we gotta go!” Cyanide yelled, pulling the both of them further into the labs, “Emergency stairs are on the other end.”
“Won’t they be there too?”
“It’s our only option.”
They ran, shooting any nearing dracs.
“Wait!” Sonic said suddenly, “This place has to be taken down. As long as the lab is still here, Better Living Industries will never stop.”
“Yes, but that's for another day. We have what we came for. We’re done here,” Cyanide said.
“No,” Sonic said, “They killed my family. I can’t let them get away with it.”
With that, Sonic turned around and raised her ray gun, she dug around her bag with her free hand and pulled another out.
“GO!” she shouted to them.
“No! We can’t leave you! What about family? Us?” Corpse shouted over the roar of gunfire.
“I just had a realization moment,” Sonic said, “It. Ends. Here. No more,” she pulled a grenade from her bag, “I’ll hold them off for as long as I can, but after that, I’m pulling this baby.”
Corpse’s eyes were tearing up. Sonic was crazy! And apparently suicidal, “You don’t know what you’re saying,” she told Sonic, “Come one, put it away and lets go.”
“No,” Sonic said firmly.
“God, why are you always so stubborn?!” It was a miracle none of them had been hit by stray gunfire.
“Just go! Help Toxic and Cigarette Kiss. Please, just go,” with that Sonic turned around and started shooting more oncoming dracs.
Corpse couldn’t tear her eyes away. It was like a movie playing before her. Cyanide gently started dragging her, “Come one you heard her, we gotta go!”
She snapped out of the trance and ran, following Cyanide.
~~~~~
Revolver searched the walls of the basement thoroughly, looking for the secret entrance to go below. After almost an hour she finally found it. With a ‘click’ the wall panel separated in to, showing the inside of an elevator. Tentatively she stepped in and pressed the only button available.
She took her ray gun out and waited. While she rode down she fingered the grenade. She couldn’t believe she was finally going to do this.
~~~~~
Toxic and Cigarette Kiss were forever grateful to Jimmy. It turned out one of the many office doors was merely a hologram. One could walk right through it. They would enter a landing with a single, seemingly never-ending set of stairs.
Cigarette Kiss and Toxic hesitantly made their way up them, ray guns drawn, ready for traps.
They knew this climb wouldn’t be easy.
~~~~~
Sunny and Elder were watching the screen, their eyes glued to it. It looked like the fun had started. Sonic was taking on hundreds of dracs at once. She pushed a vat of liquid over on a horde of them, they disintegrated where they stood. Sunny was horrified. Elder’s eyes were wide.
On another screen they watched the seventh floor. They were just in time to see Toxic and Cigarette Kiss vanish into a door. Sunny was amazed. They seemed to walk through it. She flipped through all the cameras. She didn’t have a visual into whatever was on the other side of that door. She cursed and kicked over her soda can. She felt blind.
She switched screens again and found Revolver disappearing into an elevator that seemed to appear from the wall.
“What the...” Sunny exclaimed.
Then her screens switched over to Corpse and Cyanide, running for the nearest exit. Sunny checked the stairwell they were headed to; a group of dracs was heading up it. Sunny cursed.
She switched back to the sixth floor, there was a riot going on. Her eyes grew wide. The workers where fighting back.
~~~~~
“Shhh,” Corpse said, “Do you hear that?”
“What?” Cyanide asked.
“Upstairs, it sounds like...” she paused and listened, then her head snapped towards Cyanide, “shouting. And gunfire.”
He too listened. Sure enough, he heard it, “What did Toxic and Cigarette Kiss do now?”
~~~~~
“COME ON! YOU CAN SHOOT BETTER THAN THAT!” Jimmy Valentine shouted at a pair of in-coming dracs. They attempted to hit him with their ray guns; he dodged each move and shot back a few of his own. He had stolen one of the guns they gave the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/S.
In a matter of minutes he had shot down the dracs. All around him his fellow workers were doing the same thing. They were destroying all the unfinished S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/S while fighting off others. Stray ray gun blasts were flying around the room. Objects were flying everywhere. Display racks could be heard crashing to the ground. The once white walls were stained with blood and burn marks.
Jimmy shouted commands to some nearby co-workers. Some had fled to the lower levels, the loyal ones, but most stayed and fought. They fought for their families, their freedom, and now, their lives. Jimmy took down a few more before looking around. Some of his co-workers were dead. He wasn’t really affected until he saw one body in particular.
When his eyes landed on it, all his emotions shut down. All he felt was hate, hate and blood lust. He raised his gun high in fury, his eyes only seeing red, and ran at every drac in his way.
He shot them all down, one by one, dodging their blasts like a pro, kicking and screaming like a banshee, a crazed smile on his face. He probably could’ve taken all of them down if it wasn’t for the S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/.
It came up out of nowhere behind him.
One shot to the head and he was dead. His gun cluttered to the ground, his body followed, crumpling in a heap. His lifeless eyes forever open staring at nothing, his mouth forever frozen in a twisted smile.
The S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/ merely looked at the body then walked on, looking for more victims.
~~~~~
Toxic and Cigarette Kiss were a fourth of the way up their stairs when the first trap went off. Cigarette Kiss heard it first, the click of a gun. In a split second he knocked himself and Toxic down on the ground. The next moment guns protruded from the wall, shooting at the stairs.
Toxic screamed in surprise, Cigarette Kiss covered her head. They waited. A few minutes later all fire ceased. Hesitantly, they lifted their heads. Making sure it was over, they stood up.
“Thanks,” Toxic said awkwardly.
“No prob.”
They continued on, eyes and ears alert.
Waiting for anything.
~~~~~
Revolver heard the ‘ding’ of the elevator as she reached her destination.
Once the doors opened she opened fire, taking down everything within range. Soon enough, shots were fired back at her. She ducked and hit the floor, pulling the pin of the grenade out with her teeth; she threw it as far as her arms would allow her, and then hit the up button and closed the doors.
As the elevator made its ascent she held her breath. And then she felt it, the grenade went off. She heard screams mixed with a noise loud enough to wake the dead. As her elevator went up it shook violently in the shaft. Revolver was thrown from wall to wall.
Then all was still, the doors opened and she found herself back in the basement. When she
climbed out of the elevator she was greeted by the same scene she had left. Nothing up here had changed. The underground labs were so far below the surface that the explosion probably didn’t even register up here.
With a smile, Revolver made her way towards the stairwell. She went up to the third floor to see what she could do.
~~~~~
“Hey, did you feel that?” Sunny asked Elder.
He nodded.
“What the heck is Revolver doing down there?” Sunny asked. Just then she saw Revolver flash on the screen, only this time she was going into the stairwell. The drac infested stairwell, to be exact.
“UGH!” Sunny suddenly screamed, “I CAN’T JUST SIT HERE AND WATCH WHILE PEOPLE ARE DYING OUT THERE!” She kicked her pile of soda cans in anger. They went flying down the tunnel, some hitting Elder.
Elder nodded sympathetically, I know. He wrote.
Sunny sat back down, defeated. She just hoped her team would hurry up. She checked her watch, it was 9:11.
~~~~~
When Corpse and Cyanide burst through the stairwell, they were met by a horde of dracs.
“Oh come ON!” Cyanide shouted. He raised his ray gun and started shooting, Corpse backing him up. He peeked around them and saw Revolver down below; she was shooting the dracs down as well.
Once the trio cleared the stairwell they ran to her, hoping to reach ground level before the next wave of dracs hit.
“Did you finish your mission?” Corpse asked her.
“Yeah, now I was just coming up here to see if you need help.”
“No we’re fine, we were just leaving,” Cyanide said.
“But Sonic...” Corpse said. Revolver raised an eyebrow.
“She’s doing fine, we all know her, she’ll make it out,” Cyanide said.
“I hope so,” Corpse said, looking back.
“Where to now?” Revolver asked.
“Upstairs?” Cyanide offered.
~~~~~
Toxic and Cigarette Kiss were now halfway up the stairs, they hadn’t encountered anything else so far, they were hoping that Korse just assumed people died after the first trap, but you know what assuming does.
Just as Toxic was about to take another step, Cigarette Kiss held her back, “Hold on.”
“What?” she asked.
“Look,” he pointed to the step, “Something’s off. The coloring isn’t right and it looks fake, it’s probably a pressure plate. Once someone steps on it, it sets it off.” Cigarette Kiss stepped over the step onto the next one. He very carefully applied pressure, nothing happened. Deeming the step above the false one safe, he stepped up on it. Then he carefully made his way up the rest of the stairs, Toxic watching from her position.
“I think it’s safe,” he said.
Just then two arrows came whizzing out of nowhere straight for his stomach.
~~~~~
Cyanide, Corpse, and Revolver arrived at the third floor. It was chaos. Stray blasts were going everywhere, the bodies of dracs, people, and S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/S littered the floor.
“Whoa..” Revolver said.
“Looks like we better help,” Corpse said drawing her ray gun. The other two followed her. Then, they made their way into the fray.
~~~~~
Cigarette Kiss ducked just in time, the arrow missed his vitals, but it caught his arm. He yelped in pain.
Toxic, forgetting everything else, ran towards him, stepping on the false step. The stairs collapsed and turned into a giant slide. Toxic grabbed onto the railing for support, Cigarette Kiss did too with his good arm.
Hesitantly, Toxic tried to stand. The bottom of her high tops had a loose grip on the steel. She managed to walk some of the way up while still holding onto the railing before she fell again.
“By the time we get up there, all our energy will be gone,” Cigarette Kiss said with a raspy laugh, his arm bleeding still.
“You got that right,” she said, pushing her hair out of her face, “Did they really have to make it this hard?”
Toxic stood up and tried again, this time getting a more firm grip in the railing with both hands. She moved slowly, but at least she was moving.
When she was level with Cigarette Kiss, she jumped to his side, slamming into the railing. It was then that she looked down and realized how high up she really was.
The sun was starting to reach the middle of the sky, its rays spilling into the glass dome above them, illuminating the room better. Toxic’s eyes grew wide. If you were to fall over the railing, you’d definitely die.
Shaking, she turned back to Cig, “Can you stand?” he nodded weakly.
Using his good arm he pulled himself up, Toxic helped him with her free arm.
He looked at her, “Let’s go.”
Slowly but surely, they made their way up the metal slide.
~~~~~
Sunny and Elder were watching Corpse, Cyanide, and Revolver fight with anticipation. It was like they were watching a movie, but this time it was very, very real.
~~~~~
After fifteen agonizing minutes Toxic and Cigarette Kiss finally reached the top.
“Are you okay?” she asked with concern as she looked at him.
“Yeah I’m fine; it was just a nick, no major blood loss.”
“You sure?” she asked, he nodded, “Okay then, let’s do this,” with that she tried the handle of the door. It was locked.
They both cursed.
Toxic took out her ray gun and shot the handle, it broke up with ease. She pried the door open and then jumped inside, Cigarette Kiss at her heels.
They were met by at least twenty dracs led by Korse himself.
“Hello, how lovely to see you,” he said with a smile.
~~~~~
“I think we should go,” Corpse finally said after a while.
Revolver agreed.
“What about Toxic and Cigarette Kiss?” Cyanide asked.
Corpse looked at him, “You wanna go help them?”
“Sure, why not?” Revolver said, “It looks like we’re actually doing pretty well here. They shouldn’t need our help anymore,” she said speaking of the workers.
~~~~~
Toxic and Cig were stuck. They just stood there until Cigarette Kiss raised his gun with his good hand, “This is for my brother,” he shot Korse in the head.
The man laughed, and then fell to the ground. The dracs opened fire on them.
Toxic and Cigarette Kiss ducked and then jumped down the slide. Just as Cigarette Kiss looked back, he saw that Korse had gotten up, half his face had melted away. Underneath the skin was metal.
“He’s a robot!” Cigarette Kiss yelled at Toxic. She turned back and started shooting at Korse, he laughed at them the whole time until eventually he short circuited and fell still.
The dracs made no move to follow them.
Once Toxic and Cigarette Kiss reached the door they bolted out it. On the other side they ran straight into Cyanide and Corpse.
“Did you get him?” they asked.
“Yes, but it was too easy. They expected us. It was a robot. Korse is a robot!” Cyanide shouted at them over the chaos.
“If they made him, they’ll just make more. It’s no use. He’ll never die, you need to hit the factory where they make him!” Toxic shouted.
Cyanide threw up his hands in despair, “Why must this always happen?” just then a fresh group of S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W/S and dracs arrived from the stairwell. Everyone stared at them in horror.
“We’re outnumbered!” Cigarette Kiss shouted, their worker allies were being mowed down around them.
“Which is why we should leave!” Cyanide shouted back.
“But Sonic!” Corpse shouted, distressed. She ran off towards the exit of the lab, everyone else followed.
“What do you mean, Sonic’s HERE!” Toxic said.
“Yeah, she decided to stay back on the second floor and hold them off,” Corpse explained as they ran.
“ALONE!”
“It was her choice,” Cyanide said.
The team sprinted down to the second floor using the emergency stairwell on the other side of the building; Corpse saw a security camera and stopped dead in her tracks.
“SUNNY, ELDER! GO, LEAVE, RUN! Get out of that tunnel and go back to the hideout! We’ll meet you there!” Corpse shouted frantically at the machine, "You did a good job," she said with a smile.
“Come on!” Cyanide said, tugging her away.
~~~~~
Sunny and Elder didn’t need to be told twice. They quickly gathered up the equipment and shoved it in their bags; they did a quick check to make sure they had everything, and then ran down the tunnel. Halfway down Sunny remembered something.
“OH SHIT!” she swore. She then turned heel and sprinted back to the door. Elder made a noise of agitation. Sunny dropped to her hands and knees and opened the little door, putting a coke can in it to prop it open. Then she ran back to Elder, both their eyes wide with fear.
When they reached the ladder they almost couldn’t climb fast enough. Their adrenaline was rushing, the blood pounded in their ears. Once they reached the surface Sunny let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding.
She bent down to grab Elder’s bag while he pulled himself out. They reached the edge of the forest and looked onwards, there were dracs everywhere.
“Looks like we’re gonna have to go another way,” Sunny said to Elder. He nodded.
With that being said, they hoisted their bags on their backs and sped off. By now it was noon, the residents of the city would be out and about.
As they ran they prayed the team made it out alive.
*A/N: Rate? Review? I want to know what your thoughts on this were. Thanks! :X
Whew, my head is spinning. I just spent the last five-ish hours putting this chapter together….hope you liked it.
-Alex
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