|| Chapter 12.5: A Dangerous Tango ||
The sound of an object slicing through the air resonated throughout the destroyed city, blending in with the blizzard winds. The source of the sound landed a few meters away from the facility's security door with a loud thud, creating a crater underneath its feet. "Oh come on," The ravenette mumbled under his breath as he fixed his hair and loosened his tie slightly. The gigantic wings on his back folded close before disappearing back into his body, causing the loose flaps of his suit to flutter around his shoulder blades.
Unbothered, he pulled a cigarette out from his pocket and lit it with his lighter. When he pushed the lighter back into his back pocket, he shoved his hand into his left pocket. With the cigarette between his canine-like teeth, he sauntered through the thick layers of snow, heading towards the security door. The sound of the snow crunching underneath his soles echoed gently and a sweet addictive scene of tobacco fluttered along the blizzard-like wind.
The systems inside his body unconsciously detected two presences a few meters in front of him, alerting him. Slowly, he lifted his cold gaze from the ground with a curious raised brow. "Hm?" He hummed, completely taken aback when he spotted the two figures conversing underneath an operating streetlight - it was Uzi and N. Both of them were dressed up for prom. N was dressed in a fancy black three-piece suit with matching slacks while Uzi was donning a short, dark violet-black strapless dress that matched the laced-up boots that she always wore.
Her hands until her elbows were covered by black sleeves, finishing the look. From the sidelines, the ravenette could see how they were awkward as they talked before they started getting friendly with each other again. 'They probably made up,' He assumed with a shrug and tossed his cigarette to the ground, stomping on it. "Looks like I just lost my partner," He mused loudly to them as he approached them with his hands inside his pockets, startling them, "Haha..."
Gobsmacked, they stared at his approaching figure, taking in his attire and his changed features. "...Did you get taller or something?" Uzi queried while straining her neck to look up at him when he stood in front of them. "Maybe," He shrugged with an uncertain tone, tilting his head to the side in a playful manner, "Why? You wanna check, kid?" She sent him an irked scowl and folded her arms over her chest, glaring at him.
"Your hair..." N mentioned as he shuffled towards him with a bothered frown, catching his attention. Siwoo flinched when he suddenly stood on his tippy-toes in front of him and started fixing his hair for him. On instinct, the ravenette leaned down to give him more access to his head. Uzi watched him in bewilderment, her mouth agape from how speechless she was. N styled some of his bangs to the left side, allowing the rest of it to drape over his right eye.
When he was satisfied with the look, he took a few steps back, creating some distance between them. "...I'll be heading in first," The ravenette stoically mentioned as he sent them a quick nod before leaving. As he walked through the hallways, he awkwardly rubbed the back of his nape, recalling N's actions. It reminded him of when he fought N for the first time, sending a chill down his spine. 'Thank God he doesn't see me as an enemy anymore,' He admitted with an unnerved smile, 'But that doesn't mean he can just get so close to my face like that...'
Soon, he arrived in front of the gym doors and pushed it open. Immediately, upbeat jazzy music was heard from the speakers in the gym as almost all the teenage drones danced. He noticed the balloons that were wrapped around the doorways, welcoming its guests. Disco lights flickered around the room with its colourful hues as the disco ball spun around.
He was unaware of how his presence gained many teenage drones' attention when he entered the gym. "F-Fixer!" Khan called out to him in joy and relief, rushing to him with a crooked smile, "You're actually here..." The ravenette fixed his blazer as he bluntly responded without sparing him a glance, "Uh-huh." Khan shrunk back at his cold attitude. Out of nowhere, a familiar face - Thad - jogged towards him with curiosity and glee all over his face.
"Hello, sir!" Thad greeted him with a toothy grin, cranking his neck back to look up at the ravenette. "Hey, Thad," He awkwardly returned the greeting with a small smile before shooing him away. Thad joined his classmates again, feeling giddy. The ravenette and Khan remained in front of the doors since they were the only adults there. In the corner of his eye, Siwoo noticed how Khan repeatedly glanced back and forth between the clock and the crowd with a nervous yet worried expression.
Suddenly, a blinding spotlight that hung over the stage switched on, catching the crowd's attention. A female drone - who had pale blonde hair in a ponytail and neon pink eyes - walked onto the stage, causing the crowd to applaud her appearance. She was dressed in a short pink, polka-dot-patterned heart dress which matched her pink helmet and bow. When she was in front of the microphone, she leisurely placed her hands on her hips.
"Okay," She started with a bored frown and continued in a stern tone, "Listen up, nerds." The crowd quietened down and stared at her. "We're doing this a little early but..." She explained before a dark expression appeared on her face as she made air quotes, "...since the entire prom court 'mysteriously' disappeared, your queen by forfeit is... uh..." She hesitated for a second before gesturing behind her, "...This."
On cue, V landed behind her on the stage, frightening the crowd. They immediately grew cautious and afraid when she started walking towards them with a hungry smirk, her wings wide open behind her while her claws glimmered in the stage light. In the crowd that screamed and gasped in fear, the ravenette noticed the dress she wore - it was a short glittery velvet-coloured sleeveless dress and black heels. 'What a coincidence,' He thought with narrowed eyes, glancing down at his attire.
Meanwhile, Khan's shoulders shook as he took a step back with wide eyes, face growing pale. The ravenette placed his gaze on V again when she started chuckling maniacally with a vicious yet crazed-looking smile. Cautiously, he placed his hand on the holster wrapped around his thigh, ready to take out the pistol if the situation took a wrong turn. "Easy, judgy-bots. V's my friend," The blonde-haired drone - Lizzy - scolded them with a displeased frown, glaring at them, "She's done with the murder, or whatever... We've been hanging."
Behind her, a large television screen lowered before it switched on, revealing photos of Lizzy and V bullying other drones together. The ravenette barely held back a laugh of disbelief escaping his mouth when he heard her absurd declaration. 'V being done with murder?' He shook his head with an inaudible chuckle, rolling his eyes, 'As if.' He continued observing the situation with amusement and hostility.
"Yes... Best friends," V sarcastically dragged out her words as she got closer to Lizzy, who turned around to look at her with a friendly smile. "So easily manipulated," She added, her claws curling slightly under the stage light. Almost instantly, Lizzy's smile dropped from her lips, causing a petrified expression to replace it. Seeing her reaction, V continued cackling in a crazed manner before abruptly stopping her feet with a look of realization. "'Prom Queen'?" She repeated in confusion, furrowing her brows.
She glanced at Lizzy for an explanation, trying to see whether this was true or not. Awkwardly, Lizzy sent her a crooked smile and chuckled. Her gaze flickered around the silent crowd before it landed on the female drone standing next to her, holding a shiny crown in her hands. "Uhhh..." V took a step back as her composure faltered upon the shocking announcement. Secretly, Lizzy glanced at Doll - who was in the crowd - with a hesitant glint in her eyes before clearing her throat, regaining some of her confidence.
Unknownst to them, the ravenette witnessed that secret interaction and found it immediately suspicious. "So... forgive and forget..." Lizzy started as she looked back at the silent crowd with a charming smile before screaming at them, threatening them, "...Or I'll get my dad to dock your frickin' grades!" They flinched at her threat and felt speechless. She harshly picked up the microphone and pointed at one of the female drones in the crowd, adding, "And you can't sit with us, Rebecca!"
The stage light swiftly moved to illuminate where Rebecca stood, who looked around in shock and surprise. Anger was seen across her face and she yelled back, "Fine!" She crossed her arms over her chest as she rolled her eyes, pouting, "I forgive her! Settle..." A male drone - who had a partner - mentioned, sending V a flirty smile, "She's kinda cute, though." In the back, Siwoo's fingers twitched in annoyance at the comment. It wasn't long before the rest of the crowd followed their lead and started applauding V's achievement.
"Clap harder, losers!" Lizzy demanded in fury, forcing the crowd to applaud and cheer louder for V, who shrunk back with an uncomfortable frown on her lips. The ravenette watched how the female drone - who had the crown - said something to V, making her appear taken aback. Suddenly, the female drone quickly placed the crown on V's head and took a step back, congratulating her with a round of applause.
"Speech! Speech!" The crowd changed, ignoring how V glared at them with a confused frown. Meanwhile, the ravenette shifted his weight to one leg and awkwardly rubbed his nape. V noticed him in the far back of the crowd, causing her eyes to widen in surprise before looking back at the crowd. The ravenette turned around to leave the venue when it started getting boring. However, just as he turned around, he felt a fierce glare at the back of his head.
He ignored it, thinking it belonged to V. As his hand was about to push the door open, a large crimson hexagon-shaped symbol, with arrows around it, appeared on it before vanishing a second later. Hastily, he pulled the door handle downwards to push it open, yet, the door didn't budge. "What in the...?" He mumbled with narrowed eyes when he realized that the doors were fully locked.
He started glaring at the crowd behind him, searching for the culprit. He was oblivious to the glance Doll sent him, smirking victoriously before looking back at the stage where V stood. "I... uh..." V stammered slightly as her gaze flickered between Lizzy and the cheering crowd and cautiously approached the microphone, asking in uncertainty, "...Can kill everyone... after?"
Her gaze landed on Siwoo for a split second, noticing how he glared at the crowd with a pissed-off expression. "It's not vain," She mumbled to herself, tearing her gaze away from him as her claws turned back into her hands and she waved at the crowd with a charming smile, "It's extra sinister." Siwoo, feeling more pissed off that he can't find the culprit, glanced at the stage.
Noticing how Lizzy kept nervously glancing between the spot in front of the microphone and V, he realized that he wasn't the target - it was V. Immediately, he pushed through the crowd with wide eyes. "V!" He called out to her, but the cheering crowd drowned out his voice, "It's a trap-!" Suddenly, a smaller hand grabbed him by the bicep and firmly pulled him back, catching him off guard. "Who-" He was about to yell at the culprit, however, his eyes narrowed in confusion when he saw that it was Doll who pulled him back.
"Shit..." He cursed with a clenched jaw when her right eye glitched into that red hexagon symbol with arrows around it. With a smirk, she pushed him to the ground, earning a painful groan from him when his side hit the floor. She aimed her left hand at V with the hexagon symbol appearing at her fingertips. He attempted to push himself up to stop her, but alas, his body felt heavy from his wounds reopening after hitting the floor.
As soon as V stood on the large red hidden 'X' in front of the microphone stand, she lightly tapped her index finger against the microphone and cleared her throat, "Uh..." All of a sudden, Uzi and N dropped through the ceiling, safely landing in the middle of the room. Their arrival startled everyone, especially Doll, who hurriedly lowered her hand to her side. "Unhand them, you fie-" Uzi demanded as she accusingly pointed at V before trailing off when she saw the unexpectedly peaceful situation, "-eeeeeend?"
Baffled, she glanced up at N, who neated his suit with a dazed look, admitting, "I'm confused." Noticing that they were distracted, Doll aimed her hand at V again as Lizzy quickly stated, "O-On second thought, you're way hotter than Doll." V looked at Lizzy with wide eyes before paying attention to Doll as the blonde angrily yelled, "Run, idiot!" Alas, before any of them could react, a red electrical shockwave headed towards V, forcing metal rods from beneath the stage to impale her arms.
The shockwave pushed the crowd to the side, earning scared screams and cries from them. A loud grunt escaped V's lips as loud ringing resonated in her ears and she watched how a red circular hexagon symbol wrapped around Lizzy's waist, tossing her to the side. The other drone - who handed her the crown - tried to run away, but the same symbol snapped her neck before squishing her into mush.
The room was in utter chaos with the teenage drones running around for their lives, screaming and pleading from fear. Between the chaos, the ravenette sluggishly pushed himself upwards, clutching his throbbing side with his hand as he reached for his pistol. His eyes widened in shock when a circular hexagon symbol wrapped itself around his waist, pulling him into the air. "Urgh!" He grunted, hanging upside down with his hair and tie dangling over his face. He glared at the culprit, tempted to shoot her but his pistol fell out of his holster.
Doll picked up the pistol and crushed it with her powers, sending him a cocky smirk. She ignored him as she looked where V was. "Hello, V," She greeted her in Russian with a crazed smile while approaching her, casually exploding a drone when he got in her way. With a flick of her hand, she sent another shockwave to V, triggering some memories of when V slaughtered her parents in front of her. A shaky gasp escaped V's lips as she looked at Doll with wide eyes.
"Anyway," She continued, rolling her eyes at her before glaring at her, "You get it." With a slight tilt of her head, she commanded a metal pipe to impale V's abdomen, earning a loud yelp of pain from her as she coughed up oil. Provoked, V ripped her right arm out of the metal rod with a growl and her hand turned into an automatic machine gun, aiming it towards Doll. With a loud war cry, hundreds of bullets zipped through the air towards Doll, but, they were easily deflected by her powers as she continued to approach V.
An oil-soaked butcher's knife, which was held by the hexagon symbol, appeared from Doll's pocket, swinging slightly before it got hurled at V's captured body. "Aurgh!" V screamed in agony and surprise when the butcher knife severed her right arm from her shoulder completely, causing fresh oil to pour out of the wound. Meanwhile, Siwoo wiggled around in the air, struggling to get his hands free from the symbol.
He was forced to watch how Doll broke the fan's cover off and took its blades with her power. "Uzi!" He roared in frustration and concern, glaring at her and N when they did nothing to stop the situation. Caught off guard, Uzi looked in his direction with an agape mouth. "Stop gawking at them and start getting your ass moving already!" He scolded her in frustration as veins popped out of his forehead and clenched jaw, "Go!"
It took her a moment to realize what he was saying and a loud groan escaped her mouth, clearly showing that she was in no mood to help. Meanwhile, time seemed to slow down when Doll hurled the spinning fan blade towards V with a terrifying speed. Horrified, V watched the blade get closer to her and she shut her eyes in fear. It was fortunate that N jumped in front of her, deflecting the blade with his stinger when he safely landed on the stage with a grunt.
Uzi appeared from behind him and launched a kitchen knife at Doll. Alas, she easily deflected the kitchen knife with her power. The symbols on the locked doors glitched away, permitting the survivors to storm out of the gym, unconsciously pulling Khan outside with them. "Uzi," Doll called out to her in disbelief and betrayal before gesturing towards V and N, "You would really side with the Murder Drones?"
From the sidelines, Siwoo was about to summon his tail from his tailbone. However, before that could happen, the symbol dragged him towards Doll, alerting the trio on the stage. "I'm not the only one who's lost family to them," Doll sneered at Uzi with a cold glare and forced the ravenette onto his knees next to her, earning a confused yet low painful grunt from him. "Bite me!" Uzi bitterly yelled at her with clenched fists, her knuckles growing ghostly pale from how right she was clenching them. She was oblivious to the wide-eyed stares she received from V and N at her response.
"Whoever started this fight wants us to fight," Uzi told her with a shaky frown and swung her arm to the side before placing it over her chest, "I'm not dealing with anything well, but I'm done dealing with everything alone." She glanced at N with a gentle glint in her eyes, causing him to send her a small smile. "We move forward together," She continued as she looked back at Doll with a fierce scowl, "Or not at all."
There was a moment of silence as her words sunk into them. "Uzi, nice speech and all," The ravenette interrupted the silence with a deadpan expression, glancing at Doll, "But, I would very appreciate it if you hurry up." Uzi sent him a look of disbelief, scoffing. "Ha," Doll chuckled at his words and grabbed a fistful of his hair, earning a pained hiss and scowl from him. "Cute," She sarcastically stated as she glared at Uzi with a bitter frown, "But I don't need your help."
Without hesitation, symbols with faint coding sheets appeared in front of her, commanding a metal rod to unexpectedly impale N's thigh and right arm. Two spinning fan blades were hurled in their direction. With wide eyes, N stared at the approaching blades for a second before shoving Uzi to the side, catching her off guard. He sent her a thumbs up with a small reassuring smile before the fan blades severed him by his abdomen while all V's limbs were cut off.
Both of them got launched into the backstage wall after getting ripped apart by the ceiling fans and sunk to the floor in a pile of fresh oil. The ravenette tried to get out of Doll's hold, however, her grip on his hair tightened. He clenched his jaw when she aggressively tugged his head back, forcing him to look up at her. "Your eyes are that nice colour again," She noted with an intrigued humming sound, staring at his bright sunset-coloured irises that had neon purple around the pupil.
"Fuck you," He snarled at her with a pissed-off smirk, squinting one of his eyes in a glare. She rolled her eyes at his crude language and with a flick of her hand, she hurled him to the side, causing him to hit the wall. A gasp escaped his lips as the air got knocked out of his lungs and his back wounds got split open from the force. "Urgh!" Uzi groaned when she painfully hit the groan and tumbled a bit.
Seeing Uzi get injured, Khan started running towards the doorway with concerned eyes, however, he stopped in his tracks when Doll cracked her neck to look at him like an owl, sending him a calm yet eerie smile. Before he could react, the symbols appeared on the doors again and slammed them shut, locking them. Meanwhile, Uzi coughed up a bit of oil before shakily lifting her head. She spotted Siwoo hunched over against the wall a few meters away from her.
He was clutching his side as one of the table's leg poles penetrated his kidney, causing his entire shirt to be soaked in crimson blood. His hand was covered in blood, tainting it. "I'm... fine," He reassured her with a weak chuckle as he panted, slowly waving his hand at her in a nonchalant manner, "Just focus... on Doll..." At his advice, Uzi snapped her attention towards Doll, who was approaching them with a deadly expression.
She held her index finger in the air, instigating a hexagon symbol to pick up a kitchen knife by its handle and spin it around. Uzi flinched with horrified eyes when she hurled the kitchen knife at her. A loud 'squelch' sound echoed throughout the gym, forcing Siwoo to raise his head to turn in that direction. Owlishly, he blinked to clear his blurry vision before noticing the knife had impaled through Uzi's left hand and a soft 'haha' escaped his dry lips.
Pissed off, Uzi huffed and panted with a ferocious glare, staggering as she got back on her feet. She grabbed the knife's handle and roughly pulled it out of her hand, causing oil to splatter over the floor. "Go fuck her up, kid," He cheered her on with a smirk, earning a sadistic grin from her. She started maliciously cackling at his words, feeling adrenaline course through her system as she ignored the oil dripping down her palm.
Wariful, she started approaching Doll with a bloodthirsty gleam in her eyes. Doll immediately aimed her hand at her with the hexagon symbol, however, when her system scanned Uzi, an error code appeared in her eyes, showing that she was seen as a non-interactive object. The error code caught Doll off guard for a second and she took a step back every time Uzi took one towards her, inaudible gasping. Flustered, she grabbed another knife from her pocket with her powers and hurled it towards Uzi.
Uzi skillfully deflected it with her own knife and kept approaching her with that same bloodthirsty look in her eyes. Frightened, Doll continued to retreat backwards without tearing her gaze away from Uzi as she realized that the situation wasn't in her favour anymore. Meanwhile, the ravenette pushed himself out of the pole with a loud hiss and staggered away from them, heading backstage to tend to V and N.
When he arrived backstage, his life-threatening wound was already repairing itself, pulling all his spilt blood back into his body. He raised a brow when he spotted Lizzy creeping backstage with the same intention as him. He placed his attention on the two murder drones, who were clumsily trying to put themselves back together. V had her severed arm inside her mouth, grumbling to herself with an irked expression.
"Wow, you guys look like shit," The ravenette blurted out with a deadpanned expression as Lizzy popped next to him, agreeing with him. "Agreed," She mused with a cheeky smile and flipped her hair away from her shoulder. "You frickin' traitor!" V screeched at her when she registered their presence, her voice slightly muffled because of her arm inside her mouth. "As if you weren't using me to try and kill everyone, Ms Petty," Lizzy reminded her with a sassy expression, raising a brow at her as she snatched the severed arm out of her mouth, surprising her and N.
"Where does this freaking go?" She asked with an uninterested look and stared at the served arm in her hand, secretly hinting that she was willing to help them. Relieved, N smiled brightly. "Thank you, Lizzy!" He thanked her with a toothy grin, his face brightening up in glee. "You shut up," Siwoo softly scolded him as he slapped him on the head. "Urk!" N yelped and lowered his head, rubbing it to soothe the stinging pain.
Thus, they wasted no time - Lizzy helped V and Siwoo helped N. While the ravenette was busy attaching N's limbs back to him, N took in every small detail of the ravenette's features. Now that he looked closer, he realized how exhausted and sick he looked, especially with the dark circles underneath his bright sunset-coloured eyes. His eyes seemed dull and hollow, unlike how they were burning with survival and determination on the day they first met.
Unconsciously, N reached out to a blood droplet that had splattered against his cheek. He swiped it up with his finger and slowly licked it, relaxing when he tasted the sweet flavour that he had experienced on their first meeting in the corpse tower. "Done," The ravenette stoically announced, ignoring N's strange actions. He pushed N's arm back into his socket, hearing a loud click. As the ravenette glanced over his shoulder to see how the fight was going, he was unaware of N's hungry gaze.
Suddenly, the ravenette grabbed N by his collar as he hurried to his feet and hurled the drone towards where Uzi and Doll were. "Keep repairing her, Liz," He nonchalantly told Lizzy without looking at her before sprinting off the stage to assist Uzi and N in the fight. He skillfully dodged the flying tables and metal poles that were aimed at him while Uzi and N tangoed to avoid the attacks.
When N had to dodge an obstacle, he twirled Uzi towards the ravenette, who safely landed on his feet. "This is quite the eventful evening, right?" He teased her as he continued to tango with her, dodging the oncoming attacks with a cocky smirk. "Wha-" She was about to yell at him, however, he sent her back to N when several metal poles were launched at him. While Siwoo deflected the poles with his wings, N caught Uzi by the wrist just as she was about to fall face-first on the floor and pulled her to his side, wrapping his arm around her waist to secure her.
She caught one of the flying kitchen knives while N's left hand transformed into a missile launcher and pulled the trigger when Uzi threw the knife at Doll. The missile exploded against Doll's shield, however, when the knife merely missed her face by a few inches as it flew past her head, her eyes widened. Distracted, the shield glitched and the explosion sent her backwards, knocking her to the floor and a groan escaped her lips. Meanwhile, Uzi felt her hand around N's waist get soaked in oil, causing her gaze to flicker towards his waist.
She frowned in concern and displeasure when she noticed the massive slash in his side. "Seriously..." She mumbled, looking away with a small blush on her cheeks before glancing up at him, frowning, "...Don't do that again." Touched, N looked down at her with a crooked smile, "Uzi..." However, he gasped when he noticed something in the corner of his eye. "Woah!" He shrieked in panic and grabbed her by the shoulders, tossing her into the air when a metal table was about to slam into them, "Okay, your turn!"
"Woah!" Uzi yelled out in shock as she floated in the air before landing and jumping off the tables that Doll continued to toss at her. With ease, she ducked and jumped off the tables when Doll lunged two kitchen knives towards her. She spun around as the heel of her boot deflected the approaching kitchen knives. One of the knives was sent back to Doll, who didn't have time to dodge it. The knife sliced off the bracelet that was wrapped around her wrist, distracting her.
Distracted by the bracelet bouncing away from her, she stared at it before turning to face Uzi. She was startled when Uzi appeared in front of her and slammed the sole of her boot against her head, knocking her back with a grunt as she started rolling a bit. As Doll struggled to get back on her feet, the gym's lights flickered back on. Uzi and Doll faced each other with cold deadly glares, neither moving.
Swiftly, Doll aimed her hand at Uzi with the symbol glowing at her fingertips. However, before she could do anything, a gunshot erupted from behind Doll as a bullet sliced through her forehead, leaving a gaping bullet wound in her skull. She staggered a bit before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and slumped to the floor. Behind her stood V - her eyes were in 'X' shapes and her right hand was formed into a rifle, smoke escaped its barrel. A viciously large smirk was seen on her lips.
As she shifted her weight on her feet, her eyes returned to normal and scoffed at how Uzi stood on one leg while covering her head with both of her arms. Uzi peeked through the gapes of her fingers before gasping in shock and horror. "V!" She shrieked and stomped her feet, angrily gesturing towards Doll's corpse, "We needed her for answers!" Nonchalantly, V shrugged her shoulders and the rifle transformed back into her hand, dismissing Uzi's concerns, "What? She's fine."
Behind her, N approached her and stood next to her. Upon spotting the corpse, he grimaced and covered his mouth in shock. "U-Uh..." V grimaced as well when she took another glance at the corpse, realizing that she did overdo it, awkwardly admitting, "A little tuckered out... Hehe..." Out of nowhere, they heard a groan and looked in that direction. Siwoo approached them, pulling the metal poles, that somehow impaled him, out of his limbs. "I'll try to fix her up if it's needed," He told them, not noticing how bad the corpse was.
"Where- Oh..." He stopped himself when he spotted Doll's corpse surrounded by a pool of oil and cringed when oil spluttered like a fountain out of the bullet wound for a second. Seeing his reaction to the corpse, N's widened and he immediately pointed at V, blaming her for the mess, "V did that on purpose! She's hiding mystery stuff and being overdramatic about it!"
The ravenette sent him a confused expression, showing that he didn't understand what N was talking about. "N! You suck!" V yelled at him with a glare, punching his bicep at his betrayal. "Owwww," He whined and held his stinging bicep, glancing at her with a sad pout. "You!" Uzi snapped at them, causing them both to accusingly point at each other as they looked at her with wide eyes eyes.
Veins popped out of Uzi's forehead from how she was clenching her jaw. Meanwhile, the ravenette crouched down to the corpse and noticed the bracelet next to its feet. It seemed extremely familiar to him and he was about to pick it up, however, Uzi snatched it from him before he could. "Lucky for you, we're not done yet," She seethed at them and revealed the key attached to the bracelet.
Quickly, they hurried out of the gym and followed Uzi to their destination - Doll's dorm room. It wasn't before they arrived in front of a dorm room door. Impatiently, Uzi pushed the key in and moved it around, causing it to jingle slightly before it got unlocked. The door's padlock beeped a few times before the door slid open, revealing a pitch-black room. When Uzi and they entered the room, they noticed that the ravenette refused to step foot in the darkness.
Seeing the sickly pale face and cold sweat dripping down his chin, N hurriedly looked for the light switch and flipped it open, causing the dorm to be illuminated by a crimson light. Only then did the ravenette cautiously enter the room and stay close to them. "Uh oh..." Uzi muttered when they rounded the corner, spotting several corpses of the missing prom queen candidates littering every surface.
"Nice," V proudly admitted with a chuckle while N and Siwoo seemed unnerved by the scene. Limbs and several body parts dangled out of pipes, sinks, closets, and buckets. The floor was stained in pools of old oil, causing it to appear murky and thick. Everywhere were small robotic cockroaches, feeding off the corpses and oil. The ravenette gagged at the heavy mechanical smell of oil, covering his mouth when the smell started overwhelming him.
He quickly rushed to other rooms to get away from the smell. During this, V casually grabbed a severed arm from a bucket and put it in her mouth, sucking it dry of its remaining oil. Uzi sent her displeased and disgusted glare. "Urgh," Uzi groaned, snatching the severed arm out of V's mouth, scolding her, "Self-respect." V sent her a sulky glare for a second before playfully licking her hand and fingers clean of oil.
Uzi started inspecting the kitchen, shooing them away. N and V searched the other rooms and heard some shuffling coming from the dining room. "Guys... You might want to come and see this!" The ravenette called out from the dining room, alerting them. N and V didn't hesitate to sprint towards the dining room and found him standing next to the dining table with a disturbed expression.
There were plates of food in front of two large objects that were covered by a white tablecloth. A lit candle holder was in the middle of the dining table, giving the room some form of light source. Carefully, he approached the hidden objects, ignoring how V was jumping around with her rifle aimed at anything that seemed suspicious to her. Swiftly, he pulled the white tablecloth off and visibly gagged when he saw that the objects were Doll's parents' corpses. The corpses had already started decomposing, either missing a jaw or a few limbs.
Dozens of cockroaches scurried over the corpses, seeking refuge from the sudden light. "I think we found her folks," N hissed through his teeth with an uncomfortable expression, peeking over the ravenette's shoulder. Hearing their discovery, V's rifle transformed back into her claws and lazily approached them with her hand on her hip. "Literally didn't even taste that good," She commented with a cocky smile and started cleaning her vampire-like teeth with her claws while propping her elbow against the table.
"That was unnecessary," Siwoo warned her with a disapproving glance. "V, you kinda suck," N added, agreeing with the ravenette. "Yeah," She giggled and shrugged in a 'who cares?' manner, "I'm not doing okay." The ravenette watched in distaste at how she casually picked up a cockroach from the table with her claws and shoved it into her mouth, causing it to crunch as she ate it loudly.
While Siwoo was judging her actions, N glanced at where Uzi was. The said drone flinched when she felt his gaze and pulled her finger out of her mouth with a loud pop. She sent him a thumbs-up with an awkward smile, chuckling. Oblivious to her suspicious actions, he returned the gesture before assisting her when she climbed over the kitchen counter to enter the dining room.
Once Uzi was in the room, the ravenette took a few steps back to create space for them all. Casually, he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, watching how Uzi leaned down to Doll's mother's corpse to inspect it. He raised a brow when she took off the ID keycard that was wrapped around the corpse's neck. Before he could ask what the ID keycard was for, his entire body got covered in goosebumps and his mind grew hazy, almost as if he was drunk or something.
He grabbed his head when it started pounding with a headache and blinked several times, feeling his eyes sting as Ellipse's programming unexpectedly tried to take control of his mind. His vision was blurry and he could barely see how Doll's corpse glitched into the dining room, standing at the end of the dining table. The corpse noticed his pain and quietly approached him.
He glared at her with sweat dripping down his chin and forehead when her icy cold hands clasped his cheeks. She just gave his cheeks a small squeeze before releasing him. She turned around to face the others with a devilish smirk. She lifted her fingers which had small symbols wrapped around them towards her gunshot wound. Through his blurry vision, he watched how her powers pulled the bullet out of her skull and the wound repaired itself, causing her eyes to return to normal.
With the bullet hovering in front of her fingertips, she aimed her index finger and middle finger as a gun towards Uzi. "Just in time for dinner," Doll sneered at them, startling them at her unexpected presence. She released the bullet, causing it to zip through the air at an inhumane speed towards Uzi as they all gasped in shock. However, before the bullet could reach Uzi, the same triangular-hexagon symbol appeared in her right eye, along with the faint coding sheets.
The symbol easily stopped the bullet in midair, its arrows moving in a clockwise manner. Uzi's eyes narrowed in confusion and fear, not understanding why her weird eye was acting up again. Petrified, Doll shakily took a few steps back, never tearing her gaze away from the frozen bullet and Uzi.
However, before it could reach her, the same hexagon-triangular arrow symbol appeared in her right eye, along with the coding program hologram. The symbol caught the bullet in midair, moving in a clockwise manner. Horrified, Doll shakily took a few steps back, her gaze never leaving the frozen bullet. "I... I'm sorry for you..." She admitted in a stutter, her voice filled with sympathy and fear as she noticed the choker around Uzi's throat. Cautiously, Uzi lowered her hand as the symbol disappeared, causing the bullet to bounce past her and shatter the window behind her.
Concerned, everyone glanced at the shattered window before looking at Doll again. "If I find what I'm looking for," She started to shakily reassure Uzi, her hands trembling in front of her chest, "I'll help you too." She glanced at the ravenette, who crouched down, holding his pounding head between his hands as he internally fought against Ellipse's programming. "I'll help you too, Mister," She reassured him in a sympathetic tone.
"What?" Uzi spat out in confusion, her eyes narrowed. However, Doll started walking backwards as her body glitched and she was constantly apologizing to her and Siwoo, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry..." Immediately, V had her missile launcher out and leapt through the air towards Doll, roaring with fury as she shot a missile at her, "Oh, don't you dare!" Uzi also rushed in to stop Dol''s glitching body from leaving, "Hey! Wait a minute-!"
Unfortunately, smoke surrounded them when the missile exploded on the spot where Doll stood. When the smoke started fading away, she was nowhere to be seen, hinting that she successfully escaped. "This..." Uzi mumbled as her body started trembling in anger. "Arghhhh!" She screamed from how infuriated she was and slammed her fists into the air, declaring, "I hate it here...!" They were all oblivious to the crazed smile twitching on the ravenette's lips as frightened tears slipped out of his faint sunset-coloured eyes.