"Are you sure this is the right thing to do?"
"No. But this is the only thing I can think of. I'm sorry."
The pure azure of her irises couldn't adapt to this newfound darkness. It was the first time Rose had set foot outside the Walls that had cushioned her throughout her whole life. Her sense of security ever so frail, she latched onto the man who promised her viability and warmth. That was making her feel so much safer that way.
Not because she believed Adam would be able to shield her from any threat; None are capable of such a feat. But because she knew he would do anything to protect her; that was more than enough for her. No man had shown her the faintest hint of devotion before. She grew fond of this sensation. She would cherish him.
Concealed under pounds of fabric, they took every precaution possible to not be recognized as they swiftly fled the Lab together. After hours of wandering around with purposeful steps, trusting the unlisted document he was able to get his hands on, Adam finally saw the edifice hopefully holding the cure to his woe.
"Has the word still not reached every corner of this fucking place yet? I don't do business anymore. Piss off."
"I'm not here for that."
"My ass you aren't. I have no family left. Or friends. The only folks knocking at my door are here 'cause they knew of my enterprise."
"Well, I guess that's kind of true, but…"
"Then, you can leave. Like I said, I'm closed. Definitely."
"I told you. We're not here for that."
"What do you want, then? And who are you?"
"Well, that's kind of complicated. Can't we just get in? We would rather not stay out here."
"You think I'm just gonna let you in? Leave, now."
"Wait! Look, here. See? We're Insiders. I need to talk."
"Well, I'll be damned. That bracelet's really legit, huh? What kind of shit did I do now to have you Rats out here on my porch knocking at my door."
"You're not in trouble. I have a favor to ask."
"You? You need my help? This is getting interesting. Get in."
Once a fabled rustic attraction, now an abandoned lunatic's antic, the shelter was littered with rusty relics and dusty gadgets. Paired with countless empty glass bottles, the man's place was not viable. Or shouldn't be at least. But here he was, sitting in a spot he just made for himself amongst the scraps, inviting his guests to do the same. Adam sat and removed his hood, laying it for Rose to sit on, which she refused. She would stay up.
"You know that getting my hands on that bracelet of yours would be the single greatest thing to happen to me since shutting down my business? Pretty bold to have come here, I'll give you that. I'll hear you out."
"I'm not just a resident, I work directly under Doc. I know of you and your trades."
"So he did know about this place. Always assumed he did. But he never sent anybody to burn this place down or to kill me, so. I had my doubts."
"He would have no reason for that. I'm sure the thought crossed his mind. He might even have tried to do so before; Wouldn't surprise me. But my guess is that your work here was a good distraction for the people. He would've angered quite the audience if he did anything."
"That never stopped him."
"Still."
"But it's not why you're here."
"I need a place to stay. Or at least keep her safe."
"Fuck you."
"What?"
"Is there anything so insulting as a privileged asshole throwing away his birthright?"
"Look, I'm not here to have you criticize my decision."
"Oh, I will. That's a terrible decision. Not only is this utterly insulting coming from a Rat like you, but this place isn't safe anyway."
"Not here. I'm asking you if you know another place we could go to."
"That would be the same thing. But tell me this, what made you think it was a good idea to show your face here and say shit like that? I could kill you just out of spite."
"But you didn't."
"Yet."
"You won't."
"... Why seek me out specifically?"
"You're the only place I found that wasn't too far and that I had access to in my files. It assured me that Doc knew of this place and trusted it. Or more so that he didn't see it as a threat, to let you run your business as you would. Moreso, because of your field, I assumed you'd be knowledgeable about the Underground and its secrets. Did I assume wrong?"
"Even if you did assume wrong, you had no base to believe if I would help you or not. But that isn't specific to me. Why would any of us ever want to help you fuckers?"
"I don't know. I'm desperate, I guess."
The ragged man strongly stared down both their faces. While he is not the best at understanding people, he did gather distress from his inquiry. Most of it came from Rose's pale face.
"This is stupidly wrong on so many levels. You say you seek protection, yet you were born in it. You say you came out here to be safe, while danger is the very characteristic of this hellhole. What kind of man would drag his misses out here in the battlefront?"
"That's the scariest part, isn't it?"
"Hm?"
"That there is such a thing inside that I fear more than any monster out here."
"Hm. If even His men are not safe from Him, us Mudders really are fuck then, hun."
"It wouldn't be for free, if that's your worry. I need to find a place where I know she'd be safe. From Him. I don't care what you think of me or what kind of man I am. She isn't my only responsibility anymore. I will do anything to keep them safe."
"Ah. When I thought this couldn't get more tricky. An accident?"
Rose knew that would rile him up, so she quickly rested her hand on his shoulder pad as she took the initiative to answer.
"A happy miscalculation. Must have been fate."
"Fate, hun? You're still so young. I understand. Soon enough you'll come to see that Miss Destiny is but a dishonesty to keep the common man distracted from the twisted farce that is life. I too have made the mistake of cursing innocent souls. On too many occasions. Should've realized before we had our youngest."
"Your decisions are your own. Don't call ours mistakes because that's what yours came to be. Only you are to blame."
"Dishonest of you to discard the misfortunes that your kind caused to mine. But I guess privileges wrapped your vision of the world. It is what it is."
"I would never call what I've been through privileges, but that's not something a cynical man that plays martyr like you do would ever comprehend or admit to."
"Hm. You really are making it hard on yourselves to get my help, just know that."
"Here. Take this."
The suited man reached for his inner pocket and pulled out an enclosed receptacle. Upon placing it on the table separating them, the owner opened it and grabbed the intriguing artifact. His eyes asked questions on their own, which Adam answered.
"It's a firearm. This is one of Doc's biggest secrets. It's a weapon. My weapon. I'm giving this to you."
"I don't need this. I don't fear any monster. Not even Him."
"This is still extremely valuable. Never in your life did you ever or would ever get your hand on something this important. Call it a hunch, but I doubt you chose to trade in relics and trinkets on a whim. Maybe it was easy and convenient, sure. But you already had your alcohol business going for that. This feels more like a side gig. A hobby. Surely you have an interest in such things."
"Hm."
"In the case you truly do not care for its use, then consider its significance. This is my personal belonging. A highly valuable possession that puts me in danger not only for giving it to you but also for even showing it to you. Many comrades of mine were killed for less."
"That's your problem. You gambled on giving this to me hoping it'd work."
"Its use is horrifyingly simple. You just need to point this part toward whatever target you want to take down and by only a singular light press, the target will be dead in the blink of an eye. You understand that it would be ridiculously dangerous to show or give this to anybody else. If this falls into the wrong hands, terrible things will happen."
"What tells you I'm the right person to give this to."
Instinctively and subtly, the man pointed the gun at Adam.
"You told me yourself. I gambled on you. You tell me if I win or not."
Rose was not as serene as her partner. She restlessly threw her eyes between the two men as the silence elongated.
"I have no use for this. For now. You'll need to give me something more valuable if you want my help."
"Anything, name your price. I'll make it happen."
"My daughters."
"What?"
"They joined the Foundation a while back. I'm just curious if they're still kicking or if met their end."
"There's very little chance I know them. I don't know all the soldiers in our ranks, I'd have to go back and get some info. Who are they?"
"You know them. I'm certain. If they lived, I have no doubt they are among your strongest."
"That's ridiculously vague and baseless. If only you named your kids around here that would make it so much easier, but… Sisters in higher ranks… Well, there's the Frenzied Sisters. Commanders, both of them. Swift and Blue."
"Blue…"
"Yeah, she dyes the tips of her hair Blue. I don't know if she did that when she was a kid..."
"Then they are still not dead yet. Surprising."
"It's them? Really? Well, I can tell you that they-"
"Enough. I do not care to know. I just wanted to know if they were breathing or not."
"Are you sure you don-"
"Through the back door. Further away, slightly to the left. There's a tunnel. Don't go through it, but there will be a slit near the entrance. The Misses won't have any trouble slipping through but you might have some issues. If you keep pacing through you'll find a shelter there. I doubt your Boss knows of it. I can't promise you anything, though"
"Thank you. Truly. I will not forget this."
"Not that it matters. We will meet again, in death, when your self-proclaimed fate decides to leave you behind. Like she did for all of us."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Didn't think you would wake up this fast. You're stronger than you look."
"Wher- What happened?"
Ace immediately felt the pinch in her arm, quickly locating the tube pumping her with medicine. Venom effectively attended to her and her confusion.
"Looks like you met quite your match. The lot of you, actually."
"... Oh. Our mission. Where's everybody else? Did anybod-"
"You can relax. They're all alive."
"O-Ok. That's good."
"Don't know what happened out there, but it must have been ugly."
"Yeah."
She didn't hear her. She was too busy fighting the blinding brightness to examine the room thoroughly in search of something. Or someone. The Mad Scientist caught up on it.
"Well, I would've kept you here a bit longer just to be sure but I'm guessing I won't be able to convince you to stay, huh?"
"Sorry, I-I have to go."
"Right."
The Illusionist painfully dragged herself out of her bed and swayed her way towards the door before being interrupted.
"He did come to see you. Plenty"
"Hm?"
"It's not of my business at all, just thought I'd let you know. That's the type of thing I'd be happy to know, so."
"O-Oh. R-right. Thanks."
While still stunned and confused, Ace felt a heat rush strike her face as she left the room. Ache falsing her steps, she still managed to parkour the sinuous halls of the medical aisles.
Without any true strategy, she was aimlessly pacing through the Lab in the hope of clocking the face that was burning in her mind. After what she witnessed during their beatdown, she wouldn't be at peace until she could lay eyes on her team herself despite Venom's reassuring words. Starting with him, of course. She had to make sure he was okay first.
This is all the more why she froze for as long as she did when she saw Jab's seemingly lifeless body in the middle of the Coliseum. Adrenaline immediately kicked in, allowing her to pace through in a flash without any trace of pain.
"Jab!"
Not knowing what to do, she could only hover her anxious hands over him, as if pushed away by a magnetic force, afraid a single touch would seal his fate. Soon enough, she was able to break through her panic and notice the faint movement animating his chest.
"Fucking hell. What happened to you?"
Ace tenderly caressed his head before reinforcing her approach, forcefully shaking his shoulder.
"Come on. Please wake up."
Anyone with bare medical knowledge would have agreed nothing could have broken his unconscious state. And yet, only the whisper of her voice was enough.
Ace instinctively moaned in relief as Jab slowly awakened. She gently tapped her fist on his chest like he was playing a silly trick on her and finally revealed the end of this sick joke.
"What the fuc- Ace?"
"W- What are you doing here? A- Are you ok? What happened? "
"Wha- What happened…? I don't kn- … That piece of shit."
"What? Who did this to you?"
The amputee immediately gave up on his attempt to stand up and laid back down.
"Doc. But it doesn't matter."
"How does this not matter? What did he do to yo-"
"How are you feeling?"
"I- But yo- … I'm ok. You?"
"I'm fine. I just… I need to lay down for a bit."
Ace sighed heavily before taking place next to him, lying down on her back against the cold floor. They both stayed in silence for a while, eyes closed, before the Commander decided to speak up.
"So. Since you don't want to talk about what happened here, can we talk about what happened then?"
"When?"
"The mission."
"Hm."
"That was pretty bad."
"Yeah."
"We were actually lucky. If it wasn't for Slash we would probably all have died."
"Hm."
"I- I never felt so helpless."
"Hey…"
"But it's ok. I won't make the same mistake again. No more tests. No more taking the enemy lightly. I don't know why I agreed this was for the best. I won't let that happen ever again."
"... That's what I like about you."
"W- Wha-"
The young woman rose out of surprise, her eyes trying to poke his but he kept them closed. She then laughed and playfully hit her floor partner on his chest with the back of her hand before laying back down, closer to him than she was before.
"Where did that come from?"
"You don't pity yourself. You stay as positive as you can. You're everything that I'm not. You're everything I'm trying to be. What everybody should try to be."
"Oh my. Well, thank you very much loverboy. Don't downplay yourself too much, though. I won't accept such slander on my man like that."
"I'm your man now?"
"You could be if you wanted to. We could make that official."
"That requires commitment. I don't know about that…"
"What if I said you'd get to sleep in a premium luxurious private suite from now on if you seal the deal?"
"How is it that I only learn about that fancy room now?"
"Well, I had to make sure you're with me for, well for me, and not just my cold hard cash. Which I have so much of it."
"Right. That's not too bad either, though. I'll take both."
"Of course you would."
"Can you blame me though?"
"I guess I can't. For now, let's just get out of here."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Can't say I was expecting you to reach out to me like that. I was quite surprised I must say."
"I get it. For me, it was a no-brainer- Arrgh!"
His fist barely felt any resistance as it pierced through the monster's head. Effortlessly, Rowdy threw the lifeless corpse with the others, heightening the mountain of death left at his feet with one last body.
"Why's that? You've been doing all the work so far."
"Well, it was between you and Whiff. But Whiff was already taken, so I was left with you."
"I see."
After cleaning his fist as best he could with his jacket, he pressed on his itinerary, the Necromancer following right behind him.
"Not that's a bad thing. You're great. It's like I said. You and Whiff are the most suited to do this shit. No wonder he was already drafted. I'm quite lucky you were still free Wig, to be honest."
"I guess. We still haven't talked about strategies, however."
"Not quite my type of thing you see."
"I figured, but still.."
"Look, we got no reason to until we know what we're up against. All we know is there's a big fucker waiting for us at the end of that tunnel. You'll hold it down and I'll take it out. That's all we can plan out for now."
"I guess you're right."
Wig was nervous. She wasn't trying to hide it. She knew he would be able to tell even if she tried to. Lost in her own insecurities, she was unconsciously swirling strands of her luscious dark hair. While her track record is positively impressive, she was never quite able to trust herself. And that annoyed her. Not quite the best at small talk, Wig wanted to avoid the anxiety caused by silence even more.
"So. What do you think this is all for?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, you made it quite clear you think this is way too risky. And I know you don't quite hold Venom in your best regards. Still, you accepted to help."
"I just felt like it."
"I don't know. I'm sorry but, I don't think you would help just for the sake of helping."
"My image really is set in stone for you guys, huh."
"You're kind of to blame for that."
"Fair."
"But I mean it more in the way that you look like the type of guy to question order. This is more of a demand, I know. But I feel like you would still like to weigh the risks and the rewards."
"Can't argue with that."
"So you do think this is worth it. You must have a reason in mind."
"Nope."
"Really?"
"Look. There's no fucking way to know what she's thinking about. But she knows her shit. So I'd rather believe in her than that old fuck."
"She is working directly under him, though."
"Yeah. Just like me and you, huh?"
"I know that. But you know it's different for her, she-"
The Junkie abruptly stopped marching and spun around, throwing his blood-tainted arms in the air.
"Aren't you guys like best buds or some shit? Or used to at least? Why are you doubting her?"
"It's exactly why I'm doubting her. I'm scared she's making decisions she would never have befor-"
The Junkie felt all the weight of his body completely erase itself. While confused about why he suddenly felt it and why he had time to think about how nice that felt, he was rapidly thrown across the area that opened up in this otherwise narrow tunnel.
While he himself had no control over his own body, or even just over this situation as a whole, he was surprised to feel a smooth cushion instead of cold rocks when his body crashed into what he thought was the cave's wall. He quickly noticed the black threads under him before he could notice the presence of a third member. Their guest arrived early for the party.
Wig retracted the locks of hair around Rowdy's waist, fully expecting to need every single hair on her head to face the Hollow standing on all four before her. Lucky for her, she was not alone. And the Junkie was standing on business. The young man ferociously leaped into the fray, throwing a heavy kick towards the creature. As soon as his boot was about to crash into the thing's ribs, it disappeared.
They were both disturbingly troubled but they did not miss a beat. They eyed the shadows and quickly located the beast further back.
"This fucker's fast!"
"Let me see."
Wig pressed her palms forward, arms stretched. The hem of her trench coat rose into the air as her purple eye gleamed through the dark, a deep violet aura emerging from her. Instantly, her hair spiked on her scalp and rapidly extended in front of her. Dozens of midnight strands pierced the humid air, aiming for the monster.
Gracefully, she was controlling every single inch of movement in her hair to grab hold of it. As all the locks crashed together, the Hollow was gone once again. She didn't even flinch or blink. She was on its trail. Her aura-bathed hair was ferociously coursing across the entire open area, chasing her prey. While she was sure she felt even the faint graze at the tip of her hair, she could not capture it.
"You ain't catching that bitch anytime soon. So am I. At least for now. I need to go overdrive. Now."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Show me Hell."
"..."
The Necromancer hesitated for a brief moment, but not enough to be perceivable. She accepted his resolve. Meticulously, she pierced her comrade's neck, taking over him.
Frozen, he could but stare down at the horde of Hollows now crawling around him. One by one, they leaped at him, devouring him alive. While short-lived, the agonizing pain felt infinite. Every time he thought he died, or wished he had, he would but stand again.
Again and again, would he feel the ragged claws and sharpened teeth tear right through him. Gnawing his guts. Chewing his face off. Yet, he rises still, only to fall again. After what felt like an eternity, he finally woke up from this hellish experience, tears streaming down his breathless face.
However, they did not reach his sharp jaw as they evaporated before that. His heart was violently pounding, pumping out of his tough skin a deep orange aura, while empowering him with boiling adrenaline. Now it was his turn to fight back, and his turn to disappear.
Wig could but call back her hair as both her comrade and her opponent vanished. The two were stuck in a never-ending high-speed chase, too fast for the Necromancer to follow along. Suddenly, Rowdy spawned right next to her, breathing heavily. In the opposite direction, the Hollow was serene. Not a single hint of exhaustion tainting its behaviour.
"It really is fast. I couldn't even see you. I don't know how we'd be able to catch it."
"No. You got it wrong."
"What?"
"It's not that. It's worse than that."
"What are you talking about?"
The Commander stayed silent before answering. Not for dramatic purposes or to annoy his colleague; he did not have time to spare for these kinds of stunts he would have otherwise liked to pull. He was simply reluctant to answer. It was but a remark. As long as it stayed a thought, it would remain a hypothesis. He did not want to speak it into reality for he knew the struggle upcoming. Yet he knew he had to say it.
"It's not fast at all. It's teleporting."