Episode Nine.

BLACK MESA_ _ _|

"Why did you pull me away from that shot gun?" Nova commented after we had limboed around a maze of lasers, and climbed onto a pile of boxes. "Or better yet, why not give me yours, since you have that MP5!"

Oh, dear, sweet, MP5. Is there any problem you can not solve?

The next task before us was a slippery floor, with the strange slippery liquid pouring down into an opened elevator shaft.

Oh, and there are a couple of wall mounted laser beams that would probably explode upon contact.

I moved first, jumping towards the far wall, to avoid the laser beam.

"Hello!" cried a voice, very suddenly, nearly making me lose my balance on the slippery floor.

I turn to glare at two scientists, standing in between two white, deactivated turrets.

"I'll stay here." One comments as I carefully slide over to the nearest turret.

"Yes, you do that!" I harshly whisper, then grab the turret (springing it to life, with a cutesy _Could you please put me down?_ I might add) and toss it down the elevator shaft.

_DOMO ARIGATOOOOOOO.....!_

I never heard the thud.

"Do you know who ate all the doughnuts?" Asked the other scientist. I glared at him as I grabbed the other turret (replying with an annoyed _hey!_) then tossed it down the shaft.

Nova slid down the hall after me. "uh...who are these guys?"

"No clue, but the turrets weren't firing at them." I replied.

"I never suspected such things could be!" the one stated in reply.

"Ah..." I had no clue what to say next.

*Cue Bouken Desho Desho*

"They're ghosts!" Nova deduced after a minute. "That's why the turrets weren't firing!"

"Or maybe they're holograms?" I ponder, poking one (resulting in a "Someone's stolen my glasses again!" remark).

Then, I get that chill again. With a frown, I walk past the two scientists, spotting HIM standing on a walkway some ways up.

HE fixes HIS tie with a smirk, then walks away.

I growl, then race around the mazes of boxes and explosive lasers, up ladders and boxes, only to reach the area that HE had been at only to find HIM gone.

I look around, the run down the hallway, towards a stair case. HEisn't there, but a scientist running towards a solider IS.

"Thank God! Rescued at La---!"

BRRRRRMN!!!

The solider guns the scientist down.

I gasp, and the solider turns his aim at me.

BANG!

Then, he collapses, a bulled lodged in his head.

I turn as Nova puts her hand on my shoulder. "They're not here to rescue us."

"I gathered as much." I grumble, and head down the stairs, to check the man's dog tags. "Li, Cameron, Corporal, H.E.C.U."

"What's this Hecu thing?" Nova asks.

"I have no clue."

FLASH BACK_ _ _|

I hate elevators. Officially, this is the day when I proclaim Elevators as my sworn enemy.

My mom and dad and had taken me and my little sister to Tokyo Tower, only to find it unbearably hot on the top, due to a lack of air conditioning, so we headed down again. That was when the power cut, trapping us at least half a mile from the ground. Whatever was happening outside was certainly LOUD.

When we got home later that day, people had claimed to see a mirage, caused by the heat, that looked like giant animals, dinosaurs, and metal men fighting on the tower. One of the many events that got me interested in the supernatural.

BLACK MESA_ _ _|

I still hate elevators. This one, for instance, dropped us off on the ground floor (not really, I wish) of a Slaughter house. Solders everywhere, shooting scientists on sight.

I couldn't stand to watch, so I pulled out a grenade.

Cue double explosion.

Nova looks towards me curiously. "You had GRENADES?!"

"What I want to know is why that one guy just killed his friends with them." I honestly replied while putting my unused grenade back into it's pocket.

Thankfully, we didn't have long to wonder about it, as we found the elevator labled "Surface Access."

As we rode up, I briefly wondered if elevators had stopped hating me for a change.

The soilders, appachies, and BOMBS outside told me otherwise.

"WHY ARE YOU SHOOTING AT US?!?!" Nova shouted as a group of solders started shooting at us. "WE'RE NOT ALIENS!"

Then, laser blasts from the blood red sky kill the group shooting at us.

"Nova, I think a better question is why are they shooting at each other?"

END EPISODE NINE.

AN: Okay, Short chapter here, but, I'd like to address a few reviews in the mean time.

Firstly, Yuki won't die, mostly for the fact that in this alt. verse, she is the "God" even if she doesn't know it; Also for the fact that I've got a Portal story, in this same universe, going through Portal with Yuki in place of Chell, although, it won't be as clear cut as that.

Secondly, Yuki and Kyon won't meet THIS story, because of the above mentioned Portal story this is still Twenty Years before the events of Portal, and, also, if/when they do meet, it won't be until Half-Life 2 Episode Three, and, since that isn't out yet, I don't know how it goes, crossover wise; If there's GLaDOS in it, or if you get a Portal gun, or if you come across Chell, I just don't know. It's a slight missing gap in the story plan, But, Hopefully, I'll have EP3 played through enough times by the time I get to that point in story.

Lastly, everyone, Thanks for the comments!

The next chapter will have a small recap, as we begin Day Two/End Day One of the Cascade.

_Dimension-Traveler Calumon, Uru Explorer