Wordwryhta: I don't know about y'all, but I'm having a blast with this. Everyone is doing such a great job. I'm going to change the genre, though. Silly kids. Enjoy 3RISUK0UM31's submission:
The enemy planes quickly closed in on their targets and opened fire. Bullets rained all around the rubble of Plastic Beach, throwing up small splashes where they hit the water.
Murdoc, having lost his helmet long ago, ducked down into the miraculously-intact tank just as a round of bullets clanged metallically against the sides. A loud chuk-chuk-chuk sound followed immediately afterwards as the tank took aim, and after a loud BANG, one plane was quickly shot down, plummeting into the ocean and exploding in burst of flame.
Noodle's head had cleared enough for her to realize that although she had survived one close encounter with death, she and 2D were completely exposed to the enemies' gunfire; they had to get somewhere safer, fast. She was hurt; 2D was hurt; so much blood…She could taste the metallic tang in her mouth and her face itched where some of the red liquid had dribbled out of her ear and caked onto her skin. She stood on still-shaky legs and looked around; her gaze landed instantly on the wounded singer.
2D was sitting up, cradling the bloody mess of his left arm; she thought she saw sharp white fragments of shattered bone against all the red.
Her own survival suddenly wasn't first priority anymore; even over the din of the planes and the machine guns and the shotgun Murdoc was now using, she could hear 2D whimpering quietly in pain.
Shelter. They needed shelter. Now. Her gaze settled instantly on the distant lighthouse. Perfect.
She quickly surveyed the fight. Russel had risen out of the water and was swatting the planes out of the sky as if they were gnats. For a moment, she almost thought she was back in Kong, watching a monster movie with 2D, where the huge sea monster would rise up and roar and destroy everything in its path.
No time for that, she thought, turning to the injured 2D.
"2D," she shouted over the noise. "Can you walk? We need to get to the lighthouse!"
He tried his best to smile past the pain, show her the gap-toothed grin he knew she loved. Even now, with pirate jets surrounding them and Plastic Beach in ruins, even with his left arm shattered, he didn't want her to worry. So he smiled. "I-I fink so, love."
She reached out and took a hold of his good arm and pulled him up, the gangly singer nearly tripping over his own feet. Not one to dawdle, Noodle instantly took off, her hand still tightly grasping 2D's wrist, her short fingers barely managing to completely close around it. The lighthouse was only about a hundred yards away. But the relative safety of the tower felt much farther away when bullets were pouring around them, clacking like hailstones as they hit the plastic, and sending up sharp-edged bits of debris all around the fleeing pair.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, they made it to the lighthouse. Noodle quickly tried the doorknob; she swore in any other situation she would've cried in frustration to find it locked. But now the adrenaline was pulsing through her body, and 2D was losing blood quickly; something as flimsy as a locked door wasn't going to stop her. With one well-aimed kick, the door shattered inward as if it were no stronger than glass. She was relieved to find that other than a few fine, stinging cuts from flying bits of plastic, they had managed to escape further harm.
2D had a vague impression of being dragged into some place cool and dark and definitely quieter than it had been outside. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on anymore; his body felt heavy, his arm was dangling uselessly (and painfully) at his side like a limp rag, and a migraine worse than anything he'd ever experienced before was sending colored spots across his vision. It seemed like time had slowed down; even the shots outside seemed to be getting quieter, less frequent. The buzz of the planes had all but disappeared. It was just him and Noodle, wherever they were. He had a vague feeling of falling and heard Noodle calling his name as his vision blacked out; he only managed one clear thought before he lost consciousness:
It doesn't matter where we are, really; not as long as we're both there.
Derishious, can you take the heat?
