Chapter 4

"Hey…. HEY!" I shouted when I came to my senses. It took me a second to figure out what had just happened and I was completely dumbstruck at what to do. I banged my fists on the door in an attempt to open it. It obviously didn't work, so I turned around and slumped on the door. Great! Now some weird nurse is inside the lab and I'm locked out. Who knows what could be going on in there now! Without a clue to what I should do, I decided to get down to Little Insmouth to try and get some kind of help. But, isn't the lab supposed to stay hidden? Still, there's some Nurse or something inside who I'm pretty sure isn't supposed to be there… Gah! I didn't know what to do!

I figured the best thing to do was to tell Nadia. If anyone could help, it was her. I would just… bend the truth? No, that would ruin our friendship. Then again, I haven't told her a whole lot of the truth anyway, have I? I decided to think it through a little more on my way to Insmouth. I didn't really notice how nice the riverfront looked at night and how beautiful the moonlight made the scenery. It was all a shadowy blur to me; I couldn't stop for any reason other than finding Nadia.

Upon arrival, I noted something strange. No one seemed to be out and about like they normally were and all the houses seemed to have no light coming from them. It may have been my imagination. After all, it WAS night. However, it just seemed… quiet. I could hear the echoes of my sprinting footsteps on the docks of Little Insmouth which was unsettling.

Finally arriving at Yu Wan's restaurant, I noticed it as the only building in Insmouth with lights on. I thanked the trinity for my good fortune in finding the restaurant with Nadia potentially in it. I violently swung the doors open to find a horrifying sight.

Nadia was getting handcuffed… and armcuffed and legcuffed and… well, basically all segments of her body were getting cuffed by a man in a white button down and a leather chest holster. A furious, red-faced Yu Wan was being held back by two other men in black and Minette was nowhere to be seen. However, one familiar, augmented face was all too easy to see.

"Fancy for you to arrive when you did, Leduc," The deep, bass voice of Big Band remarked. "I was wondering when you would."

"B-Big Band?!" I gasped in horror, "What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking the same thing to you," He said while lumbering closer to me with a stern face. "As I recall, the Good Doc says that you should be asleep right now."

The room was silent now. "I… that's…" I stammered.

"Leduc, what's going on?" Nadia asked angrily. "Did you set me up?!"

"I… No! I didn't!" I explained nervously, with Big Band not even showing a bit of mercy on his face. "I just…"

"He's just going where his heart tells him, Ms. Fortune," Big Band answered. "He ain't got nothing to do with you."

"Hardly!" Yu Wan exclaimed. "Minette's gone, Nadia's getting cuffed, and Leduc is involved! What the hell is going on?!"

"I'll tell you." Big Band said while turning back to the two of them. "I'm a part of the Anti-Skullgirl lab. Because of my Police background, I'm assigned a team of investigators to try and stop Skullgirl attacks before they happen: The Anti-Skullgirl Investigation and Enforcement Squad. Unfortunately, it seems all too many things are happening at once right now to try and prevent a Skullgirl attack, as I'm sure you are all aware."

"We know that!" Nadia hissed. "What's it got to do with us?"

"Well, from the appearance of the newest Skullgirl, she seems to be dressed similarly to a servant of the Mafia. Naturally, Lorenzo got a little scared without his precious life gem to protect him," Big Band explained. I was surprised to hear that a new Skullgirl was invoked.

"So as recompense," Nadia said with a little thought, "They try and kidnap a friend of mine in ransom for the gem I possess."

"That is correct," Big Band stated. "It's a risky operation, considering he has the River King on his tail now, but it obviously worked out. Lorenzo's nowhere to be found, he has your friend in custody, and the Skullgirl is looking for him on a helpless search."

"Wait," I asked, finally speaking, "Minette has been kidnapped?!"

"Indeed, and he wants this cool cat as ransom," Big Band said while motioning to Nadia. "The way I see it, Ms. Fortune here goes to Lorenzo, gives him the Gem, gets Minette back, and we can use the Mafia to lure the Skullgirl away from the city. My gut says this is the best way to go about the newest Skullgirl."

"How am I involved in this though?" I asked.

"Simple. You beat up one of their best and most prized leg-breakers. They don't take to kindly to strangers beating up their property. You also know Nadia here personally, along with Yu Wan and Minette. This made Minette an even better target for their liking."

I took a moment to digest what was happening. A new Skullgirl was loose, which was what I was built to fight. Because this Skullgirl has a vendetta on the Mafia, the Mafia leader went into hiding because he recently lost the Life-Gem which was stolen by Nadia. In retaliation and desperation, the leader kidnaps Minette as ransom for the gem. To make matters worse, I have a bounty on my head that the Mafia would gladly collect.

"Now Leduc," Big Band said, while interrupting my thoughts. "You really should have done a better job of covering up your story. Yu Wan here said you were from New Meridian and none of these folks know that you come from the Labs. Not to mention the O-Wing security system going haywire every night, you didn't do a very good job of going about it."

"Leduc, what is he talking about?" Nadia asked with betrayal in her voice.

I couldn't answer. I had finally been caught, ironically by the one person who told me the wonders of the outside world. I slumped my shoulders and turned away from Nadia and Yu Wan. I didn't know what to do and their harsh glares were killing me.

"Big Band, what are you going to do with Nadia and I?"

"Well, we're going to leave Nadia to the jurisdiction of the Mafia as a part of the deal to keep the Skullgirl away from the city. As for you…"

"WHAT? Aren't they supposed to be the bad guys right now? Why are we making deals with them? I thought you said you used to be an enforcer of justice: the former Police Man! What happened to THAT Big Band?"

Big Band physically reeled from my words and with heavy shoulders replied, "He was left dying in an alley. I AM working for justice right now. I'm keeping the city safe under orders from the Canopy Kingdom's highest authority. I'm afraid if you don't comply, I'll be forced to collect you." He then took a fighting pose, knowing full well what I would probably say next.

"I don't care. I'm not under any orders. I'm going to fight for my friend's freedom, both Nadia's and Minette's. If it means fighting you, then so be it!" I exclaimed, now enraged with the thought of leaving Minette and Nadia with the mafia and learning that my idol isn't all he was cracked up to be. I glanced out of the corner of my eye and saw Nadia with a glimmer of hope hidden behind a face of despair.

"So be it." Big Band said while opening his coat to reveal a line of missiles aimed right at me. He made a quick motion, and the missiles were headed straight for me. Thinking fast, I yelled for Nadia and Yu Wan to try and hide. I then tried to jump out of the way of the missiles. I was lucky, and the closest one whizzed by my leg and they all hit the door of the building I had just been standing in front of. Acting quickly, I switched to battle mode and got ready to set up some magnetic charges. I put a negative charge on the floor and quickly put another negative charge on my feet. I used some running momentum to jump very quickly towards Big Band. I figured that because he was so big, he wasn't going to be able to really do anything about an aerial attack.

Big Band just let out a sigh and then clamped me together between two halves of a giant tambourine. He then proceeded to shake me violently and throw me back across the room towards the negative charge. I still had a negative charge in my legs, so it sent me flying back in his direction where he was readying his most famous move: The Brass Knuckle. He wound up and gave me a punch with an arm that appeared seemingly from nowhere that could have knocked the lights out of Cerebella and sent me flying out the door.

I slowly got up, wondering how the heck he could have been able to do all that off of one read. On cue, he exited the restaurant after me and said, "Look Leduc, I've fought all manner of opponents and developed strategies to beat all of them. You don't offer anything I haven't seen before. Just give up now."

I ground my teeth in anger at his words. It was true; he had much more experience at fighting than I did. It didn't mean he had more heart though. Feeling my pent up anger swell, I got up and rushed him trying to deliver my trademark punch. To my astonishment, he used a cymbal-shaped shield to deflect my blow, and struck me with a blast of air from his pneumatic valves which again sent me flying. I got up again wondering how I could defeat an opponent who was fighting so defensively. It was like he was waiting for what move I would make.

He didn't wait much longer though, and suddenly a huge mallet appeared from his foot. He pressed down on a pedal and the huge mallet struck the ground causing me to trip over the shockwave. I noticed as I attempted to get up that Big Band was now rushing me and was going to attempt to grab me, judging by the huge horn he was trying to trap me with. I tried to think of how to counter it, and remembering back to my fight with Cerebella, I decided to let him grab me. When he did, I discharged as much electricity as it would allow. It worked, letting me escape his grasp and he slumped down, stunned by the electricity. I decided to use the clamps on my arms to grab him and discharge even more electricity into one of his legs. He shook violently with the shock and fell to the ground in agony.

"That was…" he wheezed with a bit of a smirk, "a nice trick. Guess I can't grab you, sparky." He proceeded to get up and summon a huge tuba of sorts from under his coat that shot a huge blast of air, sending me flying towards the direction of the lab. I got up remembering why I had left the door of the lab in the first place and tried to explain the situation to Big Band.

"Big Band, stop! I didn't come here to fight you! I need help! The door to the lab is locked because someone who doesn't belong is inside!" I tried to explain as I got up.

"Hardly," Big Band responded, "The only entrance and exit is the one experiments like myself can get out of, and we check that 24-7."

He didn't understand. I figured I would have to make him. Charging him, I waited for him to try and parry the punch I was going to throw, but instead of actually hitting him, I dodged behind him and shot a blast of electricity from my fist, stunning him. I then wound up a punch and tried angling it towards the bill board, now seeable in the distance. With a powerful blow, I sent him flying, but not as far as I would have liked. He was too heavy. As he was getting up, I tried reasoning with him again.

"Big Band, I'm serious! I wouldn't be out here right now if I wasn't trying to find help!"

"If that's so, then why were you out here earlier?" He answered, clearly a little shaken. "If I recall, you said to Yu Wan that you lived in New Meridian. I searched for two days trying to find you."

He charged at me, and I charged at him. I locked my arms with his mechanical ones and we were inches away from each other's face.

"I'm telling the truth!" I explained while grunting. "I was in the lab during the day and out here at night! I'm not lying!"

"Likely story," He said while using my momentum to throw me closer to the bill board. "Why then, did you escape in the first place?"

He was looming over my exhausted body now, himself looking a little tired as well. I answered raggedly, "It's… that's… It's because of you!"

He was taken aback by what I had just said, and stepped back in surprise. I continued, "It's because of you and Peacock and all the other experiments that I just got really curious! And when some red light was able to lead me outside the lab…"

"Wait… red light? We don't have any red lights in the experiment areas…" He interrupted trailing off. He seemed to be thinking about what I had said. Maybe he believed me! Until he had a look of horror on his face and said, "We need to get to the labs. NOW. Where is the entrance you were leaving from?"

I was about to point to the bill board until it exploded in a brilliant flash of light sending both Big Band and I reeling down the hill. Looking back up, the same nurse-ninja along with a shapeless blob both were making their escape by jumping down the cliff. All sorts of alarms were coming from within the secret entrance of the lab and I quickly got up and tried to get Big Band up as well. He grumbled something deep and slowly got up with the help of some pneumatic jets from under his coat. I shouted for him to come on and we both sprinted towards the now deformed door.

Upon entry, the lab looked quite normal. We tried making our way to the main lobby, but as we got closer the walls looked scratched and dented and fires were springing up here and there. As we ran past, Big Band would put them out with blasts of air and such and I would clear the debris out of his way. Finally getting to the entrance of the lobby, we both found a horrifying sight.

Peacock, Andy Anvil, and Tommy Ten-Tons all lay in a bloody heap near the entrance, none of them moving. They looked to be alive, but badly injured, bathed in each other's blood. Avery was on top of the whole mess trying to pull a scalpel out of Peacock's abdomen. I felt extremely queasy, and tried to get around them to scope out the scene beyond it. The lobby was a wreck and was completely devoid of any of its usual cheeriness. To my dismay, Hive was also badly injured and was at the current coughing up blood. I ran up to her and asked, "Hive! Are you all right? What happened?!"

"Of course I'm not *coughcough* all right! Some nurse came in and *cough* stomped all of our asses into the ground!" She said, obviously in pain. She was right though, I shouldn't have had to ask about her state of being because it was obvious she was in a lot of trouble. I told her to hang in there and got some doctors on her and Peacock and tried going around seeing who else was injured.

Big Band and I both came upon Avian at the same time and he looked to be in the worst shape yet. He smiled as he saw us and said, "Ben, Leduc, what are you doing here? Weren't you locked out?"

"We came in as soon as it was unlocked," I said, tears starting to form. "I didn't mean to abandon you, I'm so sorry…"

"Oh hush now," He said with a little chuckle, oddly contradictory towards his battered and bloody face. "It wasn't either of your faults, especially you Ben. I don't want you blaming yourself for what your about to see." He pointed in direction of a pile of flesh that looked oddly familiar. I then recognized the emotionless mask on top of it.

"ILIUM!" Big Band cried as he ran towards the now identifiable pile of intestine. I couldn't believe what was happening; Hive and Peacock were injured, Avian was probably dying along with Ilium, and to top it off I still don't know what's happening to my friends outside. I slumped down on my knees right by Avian and tried to cry. It all seemed like it was my fault. If I hadn't left in the first place, absolutely none of this would have happened.

"Now, now, Leduc, don't start blaming yourself for what's happening. If it weren't for you, we might all be dead right now," He explained, noting my sorrow. "Thankfully, it'll just be me and Ilium, and we both left our legacies. I have one thing to tell you before I fade."

I tried to dry away the tears to get one good look at him before he finally left us, the life draining from his face every second that passed. When I gave him my attention, he whispered, "You have what it takes to save the day here… That one day we gave you your last day of therapy… we actually injected your parasite. The Taranis Generator: a self-sustained artificial parasite. With it… you will hardly need to sleep anymore… and you also can generate electricity ten-fold, without the need of shock therapy!"

He almost looked excited to tell me it, and I supposed I was excited to hear it as well. Not only will I be able to defeat the Skullgirl, but I now have a parasite that allows me to live somewhat normally!

"Yes… it's rather exciting… isn't it?" He wheezed as the excitement of his face started to fade, the last time he will ever be able to see a successful experiment. "Now you know your job… You also know… what's at stake. I'm… Counting…"

Nothing. He was done. His sentence never finished. I stood silent for a moment, distant memories flooding back into me. The only sound breaking me out of my trance was the deep, bass sobs of Big Band. My heart sunk as I went over to check on him and Ilium.

Ilium never even stood a chance at survival. Her metal skeleton underneath her flesh was torn to bits, the fleshy intestines bleeding wherever metal was stabbed though it, and her mask and clothes torn to bits. There was no indication that this pile of nothing was once the greatest Mother ever to live here within the Labs.

Big Band said nothing; he just let it out in a series of sobs and moans that sounded something awful. I let him have his moment, though I had no idea he was so close to Ilium. To my knowledge, they were acquaintances at the most. Unless…

"Leduc," The bass voice of Big Band resounded, "I'm afraid I've been a fool. I should have seen the signs: someone had been leading you out; you never did it on purpose. I'm sorry for not believing you. I could have stopped those monsters from doing this to sweet Ilium."

"I'm sorry too Big Band. I didn't think of the consequences behind my action. I didn't mean for any of this to happen," I said, staring off at Hive.

"Look, the nursery needs a new caretaker, and I'm sure the kids won't be happy to know that their mother is gone. I'll go calm them down and see what I can do," Big Band said, as if he was filled with new resolve. "And Leduc?"

"Yeah?" I answered, leaving for the outside world.

"Give 'em hell."