Chapter 3: Dead End City

By the time that Atlas and Junker had made it to Junker's small apartment, she was so tired she was almost seeing double.

"Hey, you okay, kid? You don't look too hot... so to speak." Junker said as he helped her to the couch in the living room which she gratefully flopped down in.

"Just sit tight here, I'll get you something to pep you up in a jiffy, just a second..." He said as he left the room through a doorway, apparently leading to the kitchen from the soft light that turned on from within. He brought back a couple of E-Canisters and handed her one as he cracked his own open, sipping on it slowly as he sat down in a big fluffy armchair catty-cornered from the couch. He sat there for a while in silence, apparently thinking about something as he swirled the can around gently in his hand. Atlas weakly opened her share and took a sniff before actually taking a sip, getting a pleasant scent of strawberry, causing her to grin at the thought he was probably drinking the same thing. As she took the first sip, she was amazed by the effect of the eye-opener it gave her after swallowing. She sat up quickly, feeling fully awake for the first time since she'd got to this place.

"I take it you like the E-cans... Be careful though, you might crash if you drink it too quick, so just take sips or I'll be cleaning your puke offa my carpet." He warned her. She took his advice as she decided to start asking the questions that had been running through her head when he held up a hand to stop her the moment she opened her mouth.

"No questions right now, I just got back home and I need to sleep for work tonight, I suggest you try to catch a few winks yourself after you finish your drink as the effect won't last long... Don't worry, I'll wake up in enough time to tell you a little of what's going on, so until then I'm going to bed..." He said as he got up and walked into another door, this one leading into a bedroom where she saw a plethora of weapons, obviously his stash of where he kept the ones he couldn't fit into that massive metal backpack he carried all the way here. She saw the light go out and the door close quietly, and she sat back on the couch and began examining her surroundings. She first set eyes on said backpack, which looked heavy enough that even she might have trouble lifting it, even when Megamerged. Though tempted to try, she didn't want to be rude, after all, this was the first time someone had actually shown her kindness that didn't seem like pity. She looked toward the kitchen area and saw a table with a newspaper on it, and went over to check it out for any kind of clue as to what was going on and where she was.

"Dead End City Times...?" She said, getting the chills reading the title aloud. As she read on, she noticed that the high of the E-canister was quickly subsiding and she felt her legs beginning to buckle, keeping her from reading further and forcing her to limp over to the couch and sit down again. She leaned her head back against the backrest and quickly fell sound asleep.

…...

Her eyes snapped awake as she woke in a cold sweat, the nightmare fresh in her mind. She had dreamed of what Thetis had done to her the night before, clutching her chest tightly in... Fear? She quickly got mad at herself for that thought, clenching her jaw in anxious annoyance. She didn't notice what had woken her from her restless horror, suddenly catching a few strains of it on the wind that was softly blowing through the living room.

"No wonder I was cold, the dummy left the window open..." She said, seeing the curtains flapping softly in the breeze, catching the sound again in her ears. It sounded like... Music? As she walked over she caught sight of a fire escape, complete with a balcony and emergency stairs. She peered out to find that she had slept till night had set again. That, and she heard the soft melodious strain of a musical instrument on the breeze from above. She looked down only to remember that Junker's apartment was fairly high off the ground, and she caught a twinge of vertigo, falling onto the balcony unintentionally.

"Oooowww... What is that?" She said as she picked herself and began to climb the black metal stairway, going back and forth on the walkways slowly leading up until she hit the roof level, and saw Junker perched on the opposite edge of the roof from her, playing something in the mouth he never physically seemed to have, but playing it nevertheless. She caught a glisten of metal in the moonlight as he continued to play a slow, soft tune on what looked like an old harmonica. She stared in amazement at the sight, wondering what exactly, if anything, to make of this turn of events. As she tried to walk closer she was obviously heard by him as he immediately stopped playing and whipped around to greet her with a waiting arm cannon, which he quickly diffused the charge from once he saw who it was.

"What do you want...?" He said cautiously, obviously meaning to hide what he had been doing judging from his agitated tone as he stuck the instrument in an internal compartment on his chest. She walked over to where he was sitting and sat down next to him.

"You're a tough guy to figure out, you know that?" She said, choosing her words carefully as he stared at her defensively, not saying a word.

"Do you know why you're here, kid..?" He suddenly asked her, catching her off guard.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, getting slightly perturbed by the sudden, awkward question.

"Nothing, just thought I'd ask... Talking of which if you've got questions ask'em, I don't go in to work until three hours from now, so..." He said flatly, just like he had done in the bar. She thought of some of the questions that had been floating around in her brain since yesterday, choosing which one to ask first.

"Why is this place called 'Dead End City?'" She asked him.

"I take it you saw the paper... This is a city of the dead, you were already told by Jarvis, the guy I work for... Nobody here is alive, so nobody can ever die, It's like a sick mix between heaven and hell, not to mention the others that can't handle this place altogether..." He said, more aloud in general than to her.

"Others?" She inquired, trying to get more out of him.

"There are two kinds of criminals in this city, the main term being known as 'Broken', as there are two kinds of 'Broken'... Those that come to the city like those guys you saw me take care of last night, and those that end up like them." He said, obviously all-too-familiar with the concept as he continued.

"You know that no one can die, but they can end up essentially insane... As people 'respawn' like you did this morning in the street, they may find they have a few new strengths and abilities they didn't have or even known they had altogether before, but it comes at a cost... The more you rely on the ability to respawn, the same power that allows it to happen drives you slowly insane, causing you to become something like that kid Thetis is now..." He said, reminding her of the sharp contrast in manner from what she remembered Thetis to have.

"These Broken have come to form something of a mad crime syndicate across the city, and that kid is one of it's top-ranked assassins... One of their best, and their goal is to turn the entire city mad, like they are through mass successive killings." He explained, causing Atlas to glance up at him sharply.

"THETIS? An assassin? Yeah, and I'm the queen of the universe..." She said in an annoyed tone.

"... You knew him... Didn't you...? Before you wound up here I mean, right?" He said, making her mad enough to try to strike a punch at him that he quickly caught in his hand and dangled her from the roof's edge from.

"H-HEY! WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? PUT ME DOWN!" She said, instantly regretting her choice of words given her current position. Fortunately he did as she asked back on the rooftop, much to her attempted hidden relief.

"What the hell... You could have killed me, you idiot!" She said, quickly getting uppity again.

"You can't die remember, and unlike him, I have enough snap left to tell right from wrong... You don't know how he got like that do you?" He said, causing her yet again to stop mid step from walking off.

"He didn't believe me... I tried to tell him, but he insisted he could do it... Atlas..." He said, saying her name for the first time, even though...

"I never told you my name... Who are you, tell me now!" She said as she turned and reached for her Model F, ready for a fight.

"He told me... When he tried to kill himself the first time..." He said, making her let the device clatter to the floor, as a tear ran down her cheek for the first time since she was a child.

"You're... Lying... I know you are...!" She said in tearful rage as she scooped her weapon of choice back up and Megamerged, donning her armor and massive dual cannons, aiming them right at his head from the short distance she was from him.

"I think you need to calm down, or else I'm going to have to do it for you... Only broken do battle in city limits, do you want to be like them?" He said calmly, obviously not intimidated by the giant guns aimed at his face.

"SHUT UP! I'M GOING TO BEAT THE TRUTH OUT OF YOU UNTIL YOU BEG FOR ME TO STOP!" She said as she rushed at him, not holding anything back. Suddenly she slammed her guns at him, intent on making him pay for messing with her, when to her surprise...