Thanks to Lordpanther14 who corrected my mistakes.
I hope that it is of your liking.
-Chapter 9: The Part Where He Kills You (Alternate End)-
It was only sheer dumb luck. But it changed the course of the events .
At the same time that Chell was trying to attach the Facts Core to the former main body of GLaDOS, the already malfunctioning bombs thrower tube activated even with Wheatley temporarily stunned.
And the last sphere blew up into pieces.
Chell stopped moving. That had shattered the plan, there were only three active corrupted Cores, and it was impossible to cause a Core Transfer without them.
The countdown was in the last minute, there was no room for planning anything more.
It was funny that the Perfect Moron had created the only test that she would not be able to overcome.
But the sight of a mechanical claw taking something from the chamber let her know that SHE had another backup plan.
Chell wasn't even too surprised by that. As much as is bothered her, she knew that every time that GLaDOS said that she was the most brilliant mind that would ever exist, it was the objective truth. If there was any other way to get out of this, the A.I. would know it.
The mechanical arm descended to take the metallic head-like form in which the former controller of Aperture had resided before and went out of her sight.
"I DIDN'T WANT TO RESORT TO THIS. BUT THIS IS THE ONLY OTHER WAY TO STOP THE FACILITIES FROM EXPLODING." GLaDOS's mechanical voice spoke through the speaker system. "I WILL NOT LET THAT MORON TRANSFORM THE FRUIT OF MY HARD WORK INTO RADIOACTIVE DUST."
Chell started hearing the sound of machines working, welding, cutting, remodeling. She centered her attention on the noises that could mean her salvation. Mainly to not give attention to the countdown that was still going down.
The noises quickly ended and the mechanical arm could be heard carrying something back.
Something that impacted against the floor near her with a powerful crash.
"OK. THE INFORMATIC DEFENSES I PUT UP WHEN I WAS IN CHARGE ARE STILL WORKING. GOOD TO KNOW. HACKING THE CORE TRANSPORTING SYSTEM TO MAKE IT WORK AUTOMATICALLY WASN'T EXACTLY SUCCESSFUL."
GLaDOS was back, At least into her 'head'. Chell hadn't lost one second and picked her up with the zero-point energy field manipulator of her Portal Device.
"YOU NEED TO ATTACH ME TO HIM LIKE YOU WERE DOING UNTIL NOW. QUICKLY, BEFORE HE RECOVERS. OR WE'LL BE VAPORIZED BY THE REACTOR."
Instructions, they were a nice commodity in Chell's life. Following them was easy, much more than resolving test chambers. And those were a piece of delicious CAKE.
She accelerated over the propulsion gel that stained the ground; two quick shots provided an entry and an exit where she wished them to be. Gathering momentum she slid over the orange substance until she crossed the portal of the same color.
Chell crossed the air. Directly from the highest panel with conversion gel over it against the top part of Wheatley's body, where the last Core Plug in could be seen.
While falling towards it, towards her salvation, she indeed could feel like GLaDOS had told her once before. Like an eagle soaring through the skies. She would ignore GLaDOS's following commentary in behalf of their present alliance.
Chell slammed against Wheatley, using all the energy of the fall and the run up to insert the last Personality Core needed. GLaDOS herself.
When Chell touched the floor again the clock had already stopped.
"'Enter' button pressed, fusion of the Aperture Science Nuclear Reactor aborted."
"Everything is fine within the facilities."
The voice of the Announcer confirmed their win.
Chell let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding, and let herself show a tiny smile toward GLaDOS.
"WELL, THAT IS SOLVED. EVEN IF I DON'T HAVE MUCH ACCESS FROM HERE, IT IS ENOUGH TO DO THAT."
"NOW, YOU ARE FREE TO GO."
Some panels moved aside to create an exit. A way out of this madness. Chell started to walk to it. But there was something in the artificial tone of the voice of her former nemesis that made her look back for a last time. Like she was straining herself by simply talking.
And that was her downfall.
"I PROMISED YOU A WAY OUT IF YOU HELPED ME WITH THE REACTOR. TAKE IT BEFORE HE WAKES UP!"
But it was already too late. She ran to the exit, using the gel to reach it as fast as possible, but that second she had looked back had been an error.
The panels realigned themselves in front of her, pushing her back and blocking the way.
"Aggggg... What have you attached to me, again? I told you to not attach anything more! Couldn't you do as I say for once?" Wheatley voice roared as he regained control over the body.
The stream of bombs returned once again as he started moving.
Chell didn't let the loss of her escape route bother her and jumped into motion again, she tried to use the same method as before and portal the explosives back to him.
That didn't seem to be working anymore. As the bombs were going to reach him, some of the shields changed their positions in a quick and precise motion to block them.
"What did you do? How did you stop the reactor from exploding?"
He suddenly was able to stop attacks coming at his back, without even needing to look at her, and he was so interested in that? Did he even notice that Chell was attacking?
All the shields started spinning around his body, protecting Wheatley from every bomb that she redirected towards him.
"What is happening to my bomb-protection? How I am even doing that!" "
"Could it be..."
Chell would like to know too, she was starting to get tired from avoiding the bombs and opening portals to no result.
"Oooooh... I see now..." Wheatley started chuckling, and the chuckling grew into a fully maniacal laughter.
"OH GOD. HE REALIZED THAT I'M HERE."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA... The former manager of the Center, and look at her now!"
"Little more than a voice in my head, a complement to my greatness. I seriously think that I must thank you for doing this."
"I thought myself brilliant before, and I was. But with her thought capacity and stored data now backing me up, I was a true Moron in comparison."
"Because now I could call myself... let's see... God. Yes, God is the proper word."
"I could call myself God. And I would not be exaggerating."
"I'm the only and forever deity of Wheatley Laboratories!"
So she had wasted her possibility of running away and given Wheatley the mind of a genius. Nice job fucking everything up.
The nuclear holocaust seemed more attractive. Or the pit, maybe she should have just jumped then.
"YOU WILL ALWAYS BE A MORON! AND I AM NOT STAYING WITH YOU!"
"Emergency anti-corruption protocol activated." The voice of the Announcer resounded in the chamber again. "Expulsion of all the Aperture Science Personality Constructs save the main Core in 3... 2... 1..."
"You aren't going anywhere!"
"0.."
With a sudden metallic sound the panels in the ceiling opened. A mechanical arm fell from the heights of the place, pressing GLaDOS into her position just as the other Cores detached from him in a shower of sparks.
"HOW! THE CHANCE THAT YOU REALIZED THIS WAS REMOTE! AN IDIOT LIKE YOU WOULD NEVER THINK OF THAT!"
"I'm the driver here, remember? This is my body! Mine! And even if you act so high and mighty, you are only a voice in my head. Your ideas are MY ideas now.
"I'm the new boss. You just obey me, okay?"
"A MORON LIKE YOU CAN'T BE IN CHARGE! YOU ARE NOT MY...!"
The voice died down.
"This is better, she was too noisy. The extreme opposite to you, in fact, Miss 'I'll stay quiet even as I die'."
"But we don't have the time to be talking here. Do we? I will be very busy being a genius. So I'll make you take my offer from before. Remember it?"
And with the sound of hundreds of hydraulic arms moving unison, the floor just ceased to be there. She tried to jump to a safe surface, but there were none.
"Fall into the pit, please."
This time she indeed did. Chell fell to the depths of the Earth. Again.
"And don't come back!" She heard Wheatley's voice as the panels of the floor started returning to their proper places.
And thinking about what would await for her if she survived the fall and went up again, wasn't exactly a good option. She would need to go against a Wheatley backed up by the mind of GLaDOS. A moron with the mind of the greatest scientist. A moron with a big inferiority complex and lots murderous intent towards her.
The abyss seemed more nice.
"Hello again, lady. Seeing as we are falling towards the darkness, I take that things didn't go as planned" An artificial male voice talked to her from above.
Chell looked up into a glowing green eye. The pixelated pupil focused on her face.
"Don't worry, you are with me. I'm the best Core to help you in this kind situation, absolutely prepared for anything that we can find down there."
Well, something was something. He seemed like a nice guy/machine at least.
"The Rick train is reaching the last stop! Towards the adventure, my beautiful friend!"
She looked down at the approaching bottom. Piles of broken machines and other rubble that covered everywhere that Chell could see. But there was nothing that she could recognize from her previous descent.
Oh right, he moved the Main Chamber before.
Chell only hoped that the boots could save her again.
And she plummeted on to a pile of junk.
The chapter that should not be, started there.
-Chapter 10: The Cube-
