Chapter 3
After dispatching four more guards (ransacking their corpses for spare ammo), the two proceed to the a building named the Blue Ribbon. Making their way inside, they noted that it was mostly empty, with the exception of a sleeping (no doubt drunk) patron at the bar and the twins. The man wiping down the bar, while the woman was standing in the doorway of the kitchen holding a platter which had a bottle on top of it
"We have company." The gentleman said.
"We do indeed." The lady responded.
Booker sighed. "You guys again. Why are you following me?"
"We were already here." The lady said
"Why are you following us?" The gentleman asked.
"I-" The PI sighed. Clearly he was never going to get a straight answer from the two.
Dante patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, they're always like this."
The lady held out the platter holding the bottle which contained a yellow substance inside it. "Aperitif?"
"Oh, don't mind if I do." Dante walked over and took the bottle. "You got another one of these?"
"For this occasion, we do." The gentleman answered, pulling another bottle up from behind the bar.
Booker went over and uncapped that bottle. "Cheers." He then gulped it down in one set, Dante following suit, as they both made a face at the horrid taste. That and coupled with the feeling they were jolted with energy, as a yellow surface shun in their eyes before fading.
The two shook themselves as Booker asked, "Ooh...What was that?"
"Hmm. Surprising." The lady mused.
"Surprising that it worked?" The gentleman questioned.
"Surprising that it didn't kill them."
"But a magnetic-repulsive field around one's body can come in handy."
"If it doesn't kill you."
"Fair point."
"I don't understand half the things you say," Booker muttered.
Dante could only nod his head in agreement as he watched the twins discuss their...whatever was in that bottle.
"Anyways, thanks for the pick me ups, but we'll be on our way."
"Oh, of course. You should get going. Oh, and don't die. It would be dreadfully bad for your health," The lady said, nodding. "One last thing though," she then pulled out a wooden case and opened it, revealing a skyhook. "You'll need this to get around."
Dante grabbed the device and adjusted it so it would fit just right. "Thanks,' he said, admiring his new toy.
They exited out the back of the building and down a flight of stairs to a gap between them and the next building. There was however a freight hook on the side of the building leading to the next area.
"Great, now how are we supposed to get over there?"
Dante looked at his skyhook before looking at the freight hook. "I might have an idea." He then backed up and got a running start as he jumped, aiming his hook and pulling the trigger mechanism. Thankfully the hook attached. "It's magnetized! Cmon!"
Booker faltered for a second, thinking there was no way it would work. He then thought, 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained.' and jumped forward. The skyhook caught on to the freight hook as the two jumped down to the platform below them. But just as they landed, a guard turned the corner brandishing a machine gun. Dante kicked out the guards legs and drove his skyhook into the man's skull. He grabbed both a spare and his fallen enemy's machine gun and tossed the other to Booker.
The duo proceed forward, using their newly acquired weapons to mow down opposing forces. Dante throwing out Bucking Bronco to destabilize them, while Booker used and Devil's Kiss to flay them. After dispatching their foes, they went into a house where they heard voices.
"Violence is not the answer! As much as I support her cause and her people, blood must not be shed." A man's voice said.
"What do you expect these poor negroes to do? How they treat them - it was bound to happen!" A woman's voice retorted before she gave a out small gasp at the sight of the two intruders.
Dante gave the two weak smile. "Uh, hi. Sorry for the intrusion."
The man looked at Booker. "It's him. The one they're after...go...they're looking for you."
"Thanks, pal, I hadn't noticed," Booker replied sarcastically.
A banging at the door put the two back to full alert. "Police! We're in need of your assistance."
"They're here!" The woman shrieked.
The man shushed her. "Keep your voice down!" He then looked back at the two. "Go, now."
The two snuck went over to the side door only for Dante to put out his arm in front of Booker. He cracked the door open as he surveyed the area, frowning.
A couple soldiers moved in and around various stands and vending machines set up in the courtyard. Going out into the open like this would be a huge mistake. They needed to play it safe so that he could slip past them without being seen.
They needed a distraction.
Dante gave Booker a nod before he flexed his hand out, conjuring up the vigor he needed.
He launched a Possession into the closest soldier. A moment later, the man raised his own machine gun and began gunning down his friends.
Thrown off by the sudden attack, the other soldiers went to restrain their possessed colleague. None of them noticing the two men slip out of a house nearby, moving from stand to stand remaining out of sight as he put distance between themselves and them.
They crouched down behind a food cart when he saw three soldiers run past toward where the possessed man was still trying to kill the others. When the coast was clear, they stepped out and jogged over to the other side of the large courtyard. Using the angel monument in the distance as their guide as they approached a gate with a symbol of an eye on the arch above.
Making sure that no one had seen them, they pushed the gate open and went inside. Shutting the gate behind them as they turned to face the mansion that was before them.
A flock of crows scattering in all directions upon his arrival as he approached a statue that was placed in the center of the walkway. Depicting Comstock fighting a large serpent with the inscription: 'Comstock Fights the Serpent of Nations'
"Well, isn't that charming," Dante muttered as he walked past it, following Booker as he made his way past the statue and arrived at the doors to the...whatever this place was. "Should we head inside?"
"Seems like the only option," Booker pointed out.
"Fair point."
He helped Booker push open the heavy double doors, relishing in the breeze of cold air that hit him. He pushed the door open nearly all the way so that Booker could head on in, soon following suit.
Right in front of them was a bowl of seemingly fresh fruit-but a closer look revealed that that was not the case. Most, if not all, of the fruit was rotten, and even if it wasn't, Dante wouldn't have eaten it anyways-numerous crows were picking at the bowl and its contents. Dante wrinkled his nose at the smell.
Booker didn't seem to notice, however, as he walked right past the bowl without so much as a second glance. He did stop to pick up a few Silver Eagles and a quarter-full bottle of Salts, which Dante reminded himself he needed to do every now and then.
"Is there any more?" He asked, hopeful as he gestured towards the bottle.
"You can have it," Booker said as he tossed him the bottle (which Dante almost didn't catch).
"Thanks." Uncapping it, Dante chugged down the bottle's contents and tossed it aside.
The pair moved into the next room, where a giant statue of John Wilkes Booth loomed over them. Dante made a face of utter disgust at the statue.
'These people need to be put down,' he thought as he looked at it. He turned away, noting Booker's equally uneasy expression. "So." Dante cleared his throat. "Should we go right or left?"
"Let's go up the stairs," Booker suggested, pointing at the stairwell.
"Good idea. If there's a balcony, use it as vantage point and rain down some hellfire." Dante and Booker checked their mag and loaded it back into their guns. The two went up and opened the door, seeing that a group of men in what resembled KKK uniforms standing in front of a stage. On the stage itself was a man in the same garb, with a sword in his hand and a wooden coffin strapped to his back.
"And so the Prophet led us into Peking, where we demonstrated to the Sodom below the true mission our Founders have given us. And when the Mandarins and hypocrites of Washington betrayed him, our Prophet did not heel." The hooded sword wielding man spoke.
Booker was curious why the crows surrounded him. He figured that he might've had a Vigor of some kind, as he got into in position in the front the balcony, as he conjured a fistful of Devil's Kiss. Dante walked towards the right corridor before looking back at Booker. He made a few hand signs to show that he was heading downstairs and to wait for a signal. Booker gave him a thumbs up, as the two men got into position. Getting downstairs, the hybrid went to a position that flanked the KKK rejects and made his move.
"Lady Comstock was a hamster and your Prophet smells of elderberries!"
"What the-?" Booker muttered to himself, but paid no further attention to Dante as he readied himself.
The crow man's talking ceased as he turned and pointed at the teen. "Heresy! Kill the heretic!"
"Hey! Rude!" Dante yelled, retreating back as he threw out a Procession toward the nearest attacker. Said attacker turned on his fellow men and assaulted the nearest man near him. Booker took that as his cue, as he threw the ball of fire he was building up into the crowd, catching all but the crow man in an explosion of fire.
After finishing the stragglers that survived the initial attack, the two fought the remaining men that were in the side balconies, dispatching each of them before regrouping by stage. Dante salvaged what he could from the fallen devotes of Comstock, mostly Silver Eagles and ammunition. He went back to Booker as the two divvied up the supplies.
"Well that was...something. Where'd you even come up with that?" Booker asked, doing a double check count of his ammo.
"The funny papers. I'm guessing you didn't get the joke?" Booker just shook his head. Of course someone from the early twentieth century wouldn't get a joke that wouldn't come about for sixty three years. "Oh well."
"Let's just get going."
They went towards the left side of the stage, up a flight of stairs and through a door into an office area. Scanning around to make sure no one was around, the only thing of notice was a radio broadcasting what had happened in the past hour. The two spotted an elevator and went inside, pressing the button. After a few seconds, they found themselves heading towards a door, the cawing of crows filling the air.
The two readied their weapons just in case.
"Do you wanna do the honors?" The teen asked the detective.
Feeling he had no other choice, Booker approached the door ahead of Dante and pried it open. The sound of screaming filled the air as a chained up man was ruthlessly murdered by crows.
Dante cringed at the sight. "Jesus."
"No kidding," the PI responded, wrenching the door open all the way. "Ladies first."
The teen shot him a look but didn't respond, instead slipping past him and cringing at the sight of the bloody corpse of the man right beside him. He moved away as quickly as he could, trying not to look back.
Booker didn't even flinch as he came through the door, hardened by years of being in the military. He glanced at Dante, raising an eyebrow before being dismissed by the hybrid and walking towards the open courtyard.
"It's a bit too quiet in here, isn't it…" Dante said, suddenly realizing that it was completely quiet for the first time he'd come here.
Booker nodded, not looking at him as he was too busy looking around for any sign of hidden enemies-but finding none. He frowned-so far in Columbia, quiet usually meant trouble…
He was soon proved right when Dante heard the sound of a murder of crows filling the air. He turned and saw a black hooded figure approaching, yelling, "Die in the name of the Prophet!"
"Booker-!" he began, but Booker was already way ahead of him, pulling out his machine gun and firing at the black figure as he dissipated into a murder of crows. The crow-man flew past Booker and Dante, reappearing behind them both and unleashing something (Dante suspected it was a new kind of Vigor) their way. Dante ducked as the crows flew by and around his head, trying in vain to swat them away with his hands. They disappeared after a moment, and Dante saw Booker look at something far off, equipping his Devil's Kiss vigor and lobbing it in that direction.
Just as the vigor hit the ground, the crow-man re-appeared only to be engulfed in flame. The two opened fire on the man as he attempted to put himself out. After a few seconds of gunfire, the crow-man had dropped dead. The two took a minute to catch their breaths as they checked the corpse, finding another vigor on him as well as some Salts. Dante picked it up and inspected it.
"Murder of Crows. Sounds pleasant." He mused with a hint of irony in his voice. Seeing as Booker got the last vigor, he figured that he'd take this one. Uncapping it, he swigged down the contents before tossing the bottle aside. Then the side effects kicked in.
His vision blurred for a second before he saw a crow land his hand with a piece of meat in its mouth. It was then his hands were covered in feathers and his nails became curved. Dante's vision cleared, his hand returning to normal, as he let out a sigh.
"You alright there, pal?" He heard, and turned to see Booker looking at him expectantly. Dante nodded after a moment, shaking his head to clear his thoughts.
"Yeah, fine. That was...crazy," the teen muttered, still not quite believing it. It was one thing to see vigor's on a screen...but to see it in real life…it was freaking insane. His hand still hurt actually…
Booker was still eyeing him, but the teen waved a hand at him dismissively. "Really. I'm fine. Can we please get back to finding the girl?"
Just as he said that, more guards burst in as they opened fire on the two. Though they didn't get many shots off as the two shot off their Vigor's, Dante with Murder of Crows and Booker with Devil's Kiss. The combination of the two created a swirl of feathered fire that consumed the guards, killing them in just moments.
"Well, that was fun," Dante muttered, glancing at his much older partner and grimacing at the amount of blood on his clothes. He probably had the same amount on himself, though he really didn't want to check and see. "Shall we move on?"
Booker only grunted.
XxxxxX
The two made their way out of the building down a set of stairs where and airship was in wait.
"I guess that's our ticket out of here," Dante said, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Booker nod.
"Yeah. Only question is how do we get on it?"
"I…" For once, the hybrid was speechless. Ping
As soon as they got close to it, the mechanical pilot said, "We're sorry to say that Monument Island is off limits. You've got to go! Workmen should proceed to the island by means of the sky-line."
"Those things them coppers came riding on back by the lottery." Booker mused.
Dante looked at him before looking at his sky-hook. "Well...Geronimo."
Booker gave him an odd look then, but didn't say anything. He proceeded to jump up as his hook attached to the skyline as he zoomed forward.
"Hey wait!" The PI followed suit as he followed his partner's actions and accelerated forward on the skyline.
He caught up with Dante as said person dropped from it and aimed his hook at a guard on the platform below. The hit connected, sending the guard plummeting to the clouds below. Booker dropped as well and brandished his pistol, taking out a guard that was attempting to sideline his partner. They made their way to a building...where a squadron of soldiers were waiting for them.
Before either the two could dismount or the guards could open fire, a horn was heard on the PA and a voice boomed, "Stand down!"
The soldiers immediately dropped their weapons and got on their knees and started praying.
Dismounting the skyline, Dante and Booker walked past the praying soldiers. They looked at each other with confused looks on their faces. Opening a door, they saw not only more guards praying, but also a screen with picture of Comstock's face on it. Walking up to the elevator the guards were in front of, the screen changed to a live recording of the Prophet as he spoke.
"I know why you've come, False Shepard. I see every sin that blackens your soul. Wounded Knee. The Pinkertons. The drinking and the gambling. And of course, Anna. And now, to repay a debt, you've come for my lamb. But not all debts can be repaid, Booker."
"You don't know me pal!" Booker yelled.
"Same!" Dante added.
There was a look of confusion on the Prophet's face. "Why do you follow this False Shepard, child? Don't you know he'll only lead you to ruin?"
"Does it look like I care?"
Comstock said nothing, turning his attention to Booker. "Do you know why these men will die for me? It's because I've seen their future. Because I have seen their future in the glory, and they are content. What brought you two to Colombia? "Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt?" This will end in blood. But then again, it always does end with you doesn't it? It'll always end in blood."
Dante pulled the lever for elevator to ascend, but noticed that Booker's nose started to bleed. "You okay?" he asked, worried even though he knew the cause.
"Yeah...fine."
They got to the top as Comstock's voice kept going. "You've come to lead my lamb astray, but thy crook is bent and thy path is twisted. Go back to the Sodom from whence you came!" The screen that Comstock appeared on then floated away on a blimp.
Dante blinked. "Well that was dramatic."
"No shit."
They spotted a sign directing them to the rooftop and proceed forward until Comstock's voice boomed, "Go back!"
Suddenly part of the building was blown away, as it revealed the blimp and a few more buildings in the distance.
"Holy shit!" They exclaimed.
The two saw a freight hook sticking out from the airship and got the same idea. Nodding at the other, Booker proceeded first as he jumped across and his skyhook attached to the freight hook. He then jumped down onto the deck as a follower of Comstock charged at him. Dante followed suit, landing on the deck to see Booker finishing the follower off by snapping the his neck with his skyhook.
"...You know, that thing wasn't designed for such brutal purposes," Dante commented offhandedly.
Booker looked at the Skyhook, then back at Dante with a blank expression. He shrugged. "Works for me."
Dante sighed. "Let's just get going, I don't want to wait around to see if more will show up-I'm not nearly as used to the killing as you are."
"With the amount of goons we've gone through, you've taken it in stride."
"True, but I take no pleasure in the act. I've fought in self defense and for something I've believed in but never for the thrill."
Booker looked at Dante oddly then, a strange expression crossing his face for a second before it cleared and he said, "Yeah. Let's just get this airship to Monument Island. Where're the controls?"
"I imagine they'd be in the control room."
"Right." Booker gave him a look. "And any idea where that might be?"
Dante looked around at that, peering into the large window into the interior. He hummed. "Doesn't look that big. I'd imagine it's behind that metal door over there. Shall we?"
Booker didn't respond, just pushed past Dante and headed for the inside.
The two went inside as they spotted a woman dressed in a white robe praying at a Comstock shrine that was in the corner of the room.
"We won't hurt you miss." Dante reassured but the woman just kept on praying. Dante found that odd, but didn't disturb her again.
Booker, meanwhile, went up to the controls and started fiddling with them until a horn was heard. He looked up as he saw Comstock standing on an airship behind a microphone stand.
"The Lord forgives everything. But I'm just a Prophet...so I don't have to. Amen."
"Amen."
The two spun around as the woman had doused herself in gas and held up a torch which she dropped, igniting herself of and the ship on fire. Seeing as the blimp was about to go up, the two abandoned it as they jumped down towards a nearby skyline. Riding it to safety, the two disembarked it as they came upon the entrance dock towards Monument Island. Heading up the stairs and through the doors, the partners ventured forth.
