Arriving at the section room between the tunnel.
" From the printing, Candy's office should be behind....there..."
Syd points to the door with a sign
"Staff Only"
" But...it is Staff only?!... How can we suppose to get in? "
Asked Sera.
Once she turns to Toshi next to her, he already turns in to the Aquarium staff.
" Wait here."
He took only 5 minutes to go in there and come out with a key card with the appearance of a security guard.
Those 4 moves in.
In the staff room, they found an elevator.
" Bingo."
Mickey turns his face to Sera, he taps her shoulder and said:
" The three of us know what to do next, but I'll tell you because you're just a student. The blueprint does not have this elevator on it. Which means, either it was built after they published the printing or...it is intentional not to write it down. So...you should be cautious over anything that will come up once we got ourselves in this lift. I suggest you bring out that pistol, and if you see any shit heads except Candy, shoot them. We got executed authority. But if you don't have balls to kill them, then hide."
" Bro, but she doesn't have balls-"
" Not that fucking balls, Toshi, Shut the fuck up."
Said Mickey.
"..."
Sera is silent, bringing out her pistol from her bag.
Her hands are still shaking, of course.
Although she looks calm outside, inside is the opposite.
Her heart beats like hell.
Sera feels that her body is heated up by her anxiety and nervousness.
" Is that too much for a highschool girl? Hmm...I see... I understand. It do be like that sometimes...Well...I ain't being careless but I think 3 of us should be enough to get Candy."
Said Toshi, he tried to calm Sera down.
But Mickey cut him,
" Yeah, Toshi. You may be right. Should have brought Jody instead. I notice for a while that her teamwork with Syd is pretty good."
Once Mickey said that he didn't even know that his words hit directly on Sera's heart.
It's triggering.
(...This again? I'm being under Jody's foot again?....)
But it is a fact she can't refuse to accept.
(... Literally, everything that I had done so far, Jody is always one step ahead of me... No matter how I try, I always lose to Jody... But... This too?... Even this kind of thing...Jody is still ahead of me??... Is there even anything in this world I'm better than her??? )
Sera folds up a fist.
Suddenly, Nervousness in her heart was replaced by a fire of ambition.
The fire of ambition rises inside both of her eyes.
(... NO... I won't step back... NO MORE... If Jody can do this... Then So do I....)
Syd Barrett, the only person who noticed the change in Sera, didn't do anything but keep waiting for her to make a decision.
" No. Toshi. I'm fine."
Sera unlocks the pistol safety and hide it inside her bag.
" Don't worry about me. Let's go."
She said.
Mickey over there is surprised by the sudden change of her emotion.
But he said nothing.
" Alright?... If you say so..."
Toshi said.
Syd brought up a piece of fiberglass he had under his pocket.
" Alright, let me give you a little buff."
" What'cha doin' ?"
" I will swap your skin with this fiberglass. This material is bulletproof, it is hard to get cut-through."
Syd said.
He has 4 tiny pieces of it.
Then, they all brought out clown masks... Red, Green, ocean-Blue, and pink.
After they had completed their preparation, everyone brought out their pistol and hid it somewhere they can easily pull out like they're so ready to kill someone.
Ding!
The elevator doors opened, showing a beautiful young woman inside.
As she saw them, she looks pretty confused about who the fuck these people are.
But her confusion didn't last for long as she saw a pistol in Syd's hand.
"... H-Hey?!... W-who... Who are you guys?"
She asked in a shaken voice.
She's scared as hell.
Syd pulls her off the lift, pushes her against the document locker, and says to her face with the intense, extremely threatening voice.
" Listen, bitch. Repeat after me. I will answer all of your questions."
".....I...I...I will...a..answer all your questions...."
" Without asking back."
" W...with out...a..asking...back..."
" Or obstruct speaking..."
" !!!!!?????...."
The woman's eyes widened, she's shaking even harder.
" *pistol cocking sound* Say it."
"... Orobstructspeaking! "
" If you lie. Bang. Got it?"
The woman nods.
" Now. Do you know a man named Candy?"
" H-He's on the top floor!!!! Floor 3!!! "
"....."
"....."
Everyone is surprised.
"... Oh, that's a little bit unexpected."
Said Syd.
That's the last words this woman remembered before she blackout by Mickey's fist from behind.
.
.
.
.
Inside the lift, Syd pushes the button, the elevator starts to move.
They're heading to the third floor.
The atmosphere in the lift is silent.
" Stay behind me while we're making a search. OK? "
Mickey said to Sera next to him.
She nods.
" Come on, man. If you're worried about her, just speak it out. It's not like we're gonna make fun of you or anything."
Said Syd.
" Halt Die Fresse, Schwarzkopf."
" Fuck does that mean?"
" It means, shut the fuck up, Dickhead."
Ding!
Doors open, showing the long hallway with the separate paths to left and right, like a maze.
The four began searching.
Sera sticks with Mickey. Syd goes with Toshi.
" There're so many separate ways. We should split up."
" Agreed." Mickey nods.
Syd and Toshi go to the right. Mickey and Sera go to the left.
After the split up from the group for a minute, Mickey turns back to Sera.
" Hey, Listen..."
"....." Sera paused.
" From now on, we should be extremely aware of every surrounding. If you were just a neutral student, I wouldn't even rely on you any bit. But I have known that you are one of the top students.
And from your school's standard, you must have some skills that I can trust. Yes?"
"....u...umu... You can say that..."
" Then good. Seraphina Gilmour, right now, at this moment until the mission ends. I put my trust in you. There will be no bullshit quarrel between us. I will trust your action. I won't doubt your thoughts, well I may ask you if you're certain about it, anyway...We'll be supporting each other. Is that acceptable?"
His words make Sera surprised even more.
(.... I thought he will be Gordon Ramsay on me... He is well being aware of himself...)
Sera thought, she then replied.
"....Yes..."
" Good..."
While passing the hallway, Sera spotted something hanging on the wall.
"....."
It's a board of every staff member in the aquarium, telling their job positions.
Sera paused for a while before she keeps going.
"... This is weird... " She says.
" Couldn't agree more. It is too quiet...too quiet that it makes me nervous..."
Mickey says.
Both of them brought out their pistols.
" No guards...No security camera... This is just like the hotel's hallway with many doors and rooms..."
Mickey said while slowly opened one of the doors, but he saw nothing inside except an empty office room.
He pulls back and continues.
Suddenly, Sera behind Mickey spotted something wad moving behind the corner.
"!!!!!"
She quickly turns her pistol at it, but it escapes her sights. So Sera decides to run to it.
" What is it?!"
Asked Mickey.
" I think I saw someone moving over there! "
" You sure? "
" Yeah."
" You sure you ain't being paranoid?"
" I'm certain..."
Sera was about going to run but Mickey stopped her.
" SERA! Don't run! "
Sera stopped.
" Don't worry about the witnesses. Roxxy has taken control of this place. All the signals have been blocked from the outside. They can't call the police."
Although his words made Sera less nervous, she still worries about that mysterious thing.
Mickey takes a lead and walks to the direction Sera claims she saw something while Seraphina also watches over his back.
Another split way!
" Ah,shit...here we go again."
Said Mickey,
" Mickey... This is getting even weird!... It's like we're trapped in the maze!"
Sera said.
" Yeah, you're right... We don't know if Candy is an ability user or not.
'That thing' you see might be a decoy he, or someone, tried to lure us---"
Mickey has not finished his sentence yet Sera saw a woman in cleaner uniform running over the hallway behind Mickey.
" MICKEY!!! THERE'S SOMEONE THERE!!"
Mickey turns his face back, but he saw nothing.
" The cleaner! I saw she's running behind you! She's definitely human! We must get her before she reports Candy about us!"
Sera runs and turns right, then running straight towards that woman with Mickey coming from behind.
" There!"
Sera shouts, but the maid is still running away from them.
So Sera taps her hand on the wall, then...the black&pink energy comes out of her body.
She uses her power to duplicate on the hallway's wall.
As fast as she desires, the wall in front of the running maid instantly expands itself and touches with the other side, creating a dead end, blocking her escape way.
Mickey quickly approaches that woman, he kicks to her legs, making her body drops down then grabs her neck.
The maid struggles in fear, Mickey points the gun towards her face.
" Shhhh---shshshsh--- "
He says, " Be quiet. lady."
Sera saw that maid breathes intensely, she must be very scared of this clown masks people with weapons in their hand.
Looking closely, this maid dress kinda outdated. Because it's not today's cleaner uniform after all.
It's a long black&white maid uniform.
And this does tickle Sera...
And as she realized something ...
It makes her panting and shaking her body...
" HEY! BITCH, YOUR HEARD ME?!.. I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP! "
Mickey pushes the pistol against her forehead.
" M-M-Mickey... MICKEY!!! "
" What?????"
Mickey furiously turns back to Sera but as he saw her face, he paused in confusion.
Because Sera's face is paled.
She holds her pistol tightly and points it towards the maid...
" .....Sera? ....."
" Step back...M...Mickey!..."
" ??? What do ya mean?..."
" STEP BACK, GOD DAMN IT!! RELEASE HER!!! QUICK!!! "
Mickey senses the intense anxiety and panic in her voice. As if she discovers some traumatized fact.
He then quickly releases the maid but still pointing his gun towards her,
He slowly walked back away from the shaking maid and settled next to Sera.
" What is it? "
He asked.
" That Uniform!... I saw the worker board before we came here... Although I can't remember if she's on the list...but something I'm certain is..."
At that time, the maid stops shaking like she knows she's being exposed.
" Something I'm certain...is the fact that this place is Aquarium... And on that board only show us the Aquarium staff members. Their uniform should be made out of blue themes or something like that... But a maid uniform in a place like Aquarium?... that's very unlikely....but okay-- maybe."
The maid then grins.
Mickey finally realized.
Sera continues:
" BUT... Your uniform is super outdated. It is the one telling me that you are suspicious! A long white part from your chest 'til your feet... It is used in the 1800 era !!! We're no longer making this type of clothes unless you have to order the cosplay shop to make one for you...(which is expensive)... So tell me... Who are you exactly?!.... And if this office's maid actually wears this uniform...then where're the others?! "
!!!!!!!!!!
The tension rises.
"....you... Both of you... are very smart..."
Her (the maid) face changes, her mouth forms up a scary smile.
She begins the laugh.
" BUT IT IS TOO LATE!!!!! "
She shouts at them with her loudest voice possible, As she completes her words, A spear...and very sharp spear which is tied to a rope penetrates through the door next to her and passes through her throat! bringing her pharynx out of her neck and drops down on her laps.
What a shocking and disturbing image...
Tons of blood splashes out of her neck, some of them even got on Sera's jeans.
She's completely shocked.
Mickey pulls Sera back.
" WHAT THE FUCK?!...."
But that's not all of it.
The maid smiles and glares intensely at both of them before a rope that is tied with a spear is being pulled back, dragging the maid's body back into the office room.
Leaving Mickey and Sera in confused.
But that can't stop them from finding the truth.
Mickey kicks the door opened.
B A M!
He points his gun inside, but then...
There was nothing inside the room.
No Blood... No maid... No spear...nothing but an empty meeting room.
" Shit," said Mickey.
" Mickey, Let's get outta here..."
" I hate to say it, but it won't easy to do that. We've been played by someone who has already taken advantage of us. He or she won't let us go easily."
Mickey said.
They turned back and stepped out.
Suddenly, The door of the next room was opened harshly, creating a very loud noise.
Mickey and Sera turn their faces to it.
And they saw a Caravan of ancient Romanian soldiers with horses, carriages, battle crying and coming to their way!
" JESUS CHRIST! "
They run.
A single pistol can't handle all of them.
Although the carriages are faster and about to crush them, Sera touches the wall. She duplicates the wall's concrete to block that caravan from her and Mickey.
" *gasp*....*gasp*.... *gasp* ... *gasp* "
Sera is exhausting a sweat all over her face. Mickey Mannix, on the other hand, looks fine because he's used to running.
" The fuck.....is....*gasp*... That thing?!... Those are impossible to be filled in 1 single room!....*gasp*..."
But Sera didn't even finish.
As they were in the middle of the conversation...
A " Giant Tank " runs out of another door surprisingly, and fully runs into Mickey Mannix!
" MICKEY!!!! "
Sera screams.
Mickey was fully hit.
But then he realized something is not right...
The tank... This giant tank... usually it should be made out of thick metal to protect the engine from bullets or explosions or whatever...
But the texture that touched his body, It is just thin steel with a hollow inside...
Like a car's hood! { Bonnet for UK }
Lucky for him that Syd had given Mickey the characteristics of fiberglass to his flesh.
So the hitting does less damage than it should do.
After this mysterious Tank hits Mickey, his body flew across the hallway and collide with the wall.
" MICKEY!!!!! "
Sera immediately runs to him. She tried to help him with her best.
"... CAN YOU STAND UP?!..."
She asked in a shaken voice.
Mickey coughs blood, he wipes his mouth and glared back to that Tank.
" !!!!! "
Sera is about to build another concrete wall to block the tank from them.
But Mickey holds back her hands.
"...No, Sera... No need to... No need to do that anymore..."
Mickey said.
" W-What????... What do you mean?..."
Mickey tried to stand up, but it's hard since 2 of his ribs break.
Sera then helped him until he can fully standing still.
" No need to run away from these things now. I've figured it out. All of these nonsense things... I figured it out while I was hit. Thanks to you...
'CANDY Candido' "
???!!!!!!
Sera eyes widened.
She turned her face back to that giant tank.
This time something went different!
She saw a spark of lighting running around the Tank itself.
" What ?!... Lightning... All over the Tank?!..."
" No. Sera. That's not a tank. When I was hit, I can feel it. The heaviness of its metal can't even be compared to a tank... Don't you notice, Sera? Wouldn't it be easier if this tank shoots us with its cannon in the first place?"
" ?!?!!????!?!?!?..... "
Sera realized.
" YES. All of this Is just an Illusion! The Romans... The 1800's maid... The spear!!! All of this was the creation of Candy himself! His Ability!!! Is to create an illusion !!!!"
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
" Do you know that you shouldn't hit me with that electric Car of yours... Mister Candy... Let see how long can you last inside your Car with the leaking of electricity all over the car's surface! I've absorbed all the electricity from your car while you were trying to crush me! And I transfer them right back to the driver seat through the bonnet! "
When Mickey finished his words.
An image of Giant Tank dissolves, appearing an image of a Car... An electric car.
Its door got severely opened by someone inside it.
" C-Candy!!! He's Candy Candido!!! "
Said Sera.
Candy Candido is badly injured by Mickey's electric shock.
Sera can see the burnt part on his white suit.
".... You.... "
.
.
.
.
.