ACT 9: Pushing forward

When last we saw our band of survivors they were held up in Shadow's study about to be greeted by an onslaught of unwelcome guests. After have enough time to recover and rest as well as arm up for the last push toward the freedom of the outside world, their final preparations are halted by the continual beating at the study room door. Without further time to compose a new way out or explore any options open to them they must face what lies beyond the door. As they ready themselves the door begins to crack and break under the repeated stress of whatever is throwing itself at it. With the golden triangle no longer serving as a force field to block them out, once the door gives way there is only a desk between them and the group so they will have to act fast. Shadow acting fast gives directions to the group before the confrontation. He orders them to spread out in a semi-circle around the desk with him in the front. Chris with the long reach provided by the pike stands to his right, Jovi to his left. Joe stands to the right of the door with the photon discharger at the ready for whoever charges through the door first. Mason to the left of the door because of the protection the shield offers him and the medium reach of the short sword. Shadow tells them to follow his orders as the door's middle is split open to show that the one ramming the door is Steve. How he is back after Mason took a table leg to his skull is a mystery to everyone but a problem all the same. As Steve continues to ram the door Shadow relays an important note to everybody, the photon discharger can only fire every 30 seconds. With that note on their mind they look on in fear that they may not make it out of here alive and instead become one of those mindless puppets. Everyone takes a bracing stance as Steve has almost broken entirely through the door at this point.

Shadow: Once he breaks that door hit him with the photon discharger and you drive the pike right through his head. Got it?

Joe: *nods*

Chris: Sure thing.

Shadow: And for the love of god don't miss please.

After the initial plan is set all there is left to do is wait as Steve slowly breaks down the remainder of the door. With each smash the door becomes more and more destroyed. 75%, 85%, with the next ram he'll be through the door! As he steps back to yet again charge forward Shadow tells the group to prepare themselves for whatever happens next, and with that Steve begins charging. Be finally breaks the door down and charges the desk inward. Joe takes aim and fires a shot at Steve hitting him but to little effect because of his massive size. The desk keeps going ramming Shadow into the back wall as Chris thrusts with the pike missing his head only to cut into his shoulder. Shadow shouts in pain "MASON, NEXT ONE" as Black Nick is next to enter the room. Jovi rushes back to Shadow to help him and Mason impales Black Nick in the stomach before swinging out ward causing his guts to fling across the floor. Steve still in the middle of the room half dazed by the photon shot is now decapitated by a swing from Chris's pike. Mason too deals the final blow to Black Nick with an upper thrust to the bottom of his skull. Jovi finally frees Shadow as the onslaught continues with Timmy running at the group followed by Nick Romeo. Mason shield bashes Timmy to the ground as he enters but Nick R. tackles Mason to the ground as well. Chris follows up with Timmy with a quick downward swing but to no avail as Timmy just rolls out of the way. Mason fell to the ground as his sword went flying across the room and now has Nick R. on top of him repeatedly beating him. Mason tries to block as much harassment as he can with his shield while trying to get Nick R. off but to effect. Timmy gets back up and quickly grabs Chris's extended pike and pulls it away from him. Now Timmy has a pike and Chris is left with his round shield. Timmy draws back for an attack while Chris panics and raises his shield to hide behind. The pike connects but with his shield sending him stumbling backwards to only fall on the floor. The situation seems worse as Lindsay followed by Dakota rush through the door to enter the fray. They are greeted however with a sword sent flying throughout the room pinning Timmy to the wall next to the entrance door as it impales him in the head.

Jovi: I got her…

Shadow: *looking at Joe* The small one!

Joe quickly points the photon discharger at Dakota and fires it again. This time Dakota falls to the floor unable to move as Jovi moves in to deal with Lindsay. Shadow runs to get Nick R. off of Mason as Chris recovers from the knock back. Shadow rams Nick R. off Mason as Chris rushes to retrieve his stolen pike. Mason with no other weapon to use continually smashes Nick R. with his shield until his head is fully caved in. Jovi however confronts Lindsay and with his size and nimbleness along with his suiting choice of weapon is easily able to dodge all attempts made toward him but also deal quick and repetitive blows to her. His form and style is that of playing Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2 on Expert mode. His speed and reflexes are enough to quickly drop Lindsay with impalement marks all across her body but she is still alive. Chris retrieves his weapon as Shadow helps Mason up. David storms in and punches Jovi in the face knocking him down as Mason and Shadow scramble to get their weapons and rejoin the fight. Nick W. too comes in but Joe again fires the photon discharger dropping him to the ground also. Dakota however is recovering from the effects as David begins stomping on Jovi unable to get up. Mason picks up his flung sword and runs straight at David. Mason opens with a shield bash but David blocks it with crossed arms as Dakota fully recovered grabs Mason's legs and begins to kick and bite him. Shadow reclaims his thrown sword out of Timmy's head letting his body hit the floor as Chris jabs at David with his pike. David too grabs the pike but Chris is able to fight back this time. Mason thrusts downwards and impales Dakota in the head allowing him to move freely again. Shadow grabs on Chris's end of the pike and yanks at it sending David flying forward as Shadow lets loose a quick horizontal slash chopping David's head in two. Nick W. begins to try and stand up but Shadow again grips his sword with both hands and stabs Nick W. in the back of the head. As he pulled out Nick W. simply fell back to the floor. Jovi too recovers and unleashes the final flurry of blows to Lindsay to finish her off for good. Having finally killed all the attackers they are relived that it is over and they can take a breather. That is until Mr. Kille stand alone at the study room entrance. Shadow readies his weapon as Joe is about to fire off another photon blast.

Shadow: *huff huff* NO… he's mine… give… him your sword… Mason…

All: !?

Mason: *huff huff* What… are you… talking about…

Shadow: *huff huff* Just do it…

Mason: *huff huff* … but we… still need you…

Shadow: *looking at Mason* DO IT!

Mason and the group look at Shadow and Mr. Kille but in the end Mason complies with Shadow's wishes. He puts his sword on the floor and kicks it to Mr. Kille. As is slides across the floor Mr. Kille stops it under his foot and picks it up. He then gestures for Shadow to follow him and walks away. Shadow without hesitation follows after him.

Mason: *huff huff* You guys follow him, I need another weapon.

So Jovi, Joe, and Chris follow Shadow and Mr. Kille as Mason heads back into the armory to get another weapon just in case. Mr. Kille keeps walking as Shadow and the rest continue to follow while Mason returns to the group after a momentary delay. As they continue walking they find themselves back in the main entrance but Mr. Kille shows no signs of stopping. He leads them past the staircase leading to the second floor as Mr. Kille and Shadow keep walking. The rest of the group grow wide eyed as they lay their gaze upon what lies at the top of the staircase. At the top is the giant black shadow beast that took both David's and Timmy's life in mere seconds. As they stand there in fear Mr. Kille and Shadow leave them behind not caring or even noticing the beast. Before leaving Joe takes a few quick pics. Past the staircase and another hallway is the dining room from the beginning of this hellish adventure. This time however the room is completely empty except for the two of them and the rest of the group that is now catching up. Mr. Kille keeps walking until he reaches the middle of the room at which point he stops and turns around to face Shadow who also stops. Jovi, Joe and Chris stop at the room's edge as Mason watches the hallway in case that monster were to attack. Joe gets ready with his phone as Mr. Kille cocks his head to one side before raising his sword and beginning a full sprint at Shadow. Shadow blocks it with his weapon and retaliates with a knee to the stomach followed by a punch to the face which stumbles Mr. Kille backward. Shadow then opens with a sword attack of his own but so too is blocked by Mr. Kille. Mr. Kille grabs Shadow's sword arm and pulls on it causing him to fall forward. Mr. Kille then takes his sword hilt and smashes Shadow over the face with it. Shadow falls to the ground as he drops his sword and Mr. Kille picks it up. He then takes both swords and while over top Shadow thrusts both down at him. Shadow however with all his might kicks Mr. Kille sending him flying away landing on his back. Shadow quickly takes this opportunity to get back up and then rushes at Mr. Kille while he's dazed. Shadow jumps on Mr. Kille's stomach knee first and holds down both of his arms. Mr. Kille without time to react gets a full on head butt slamming his head into the floor. Shadow does this twice more before Mr. Kille springs up with his legs making Shadow roll forward off of him. Both take time to recover and stand back up when Mr. Kille begins slashing wildly with both swords toward Shadow. Shadow has no choice but to keep backing up until he hits the wall. Mr. Kille jabs one of the swords at Shadow but he ducks and try's to roll away. Mr. Kille sees this and with the other sword cuts a large gash into Shadow's back. Stopping mid roll and now laying on the ground in shear pain, Mr. Kille removes the sword from the wall and walks over to the wounded Shadow. He raises both swords above Shadow before letting loose with a downward thrust with both swords. Before Shadow could even think Mr. Kille was now laying on the floor with the group hovering over Shadow. Before long Shadow passed out from the pain and excessive blood loss.

Mason: Good shot, now keep him from bleeding out. Let's kill this ass hole.

And so with Shadow having allies and Mr. Kille not, Shadow may yet live on. Joe tends to Shadow as the photon discharger recharges after the shot fired at Mr. Kille. Mason who bashed him away and sent him crashing to the floor now charges at him with Chris and Jovi right behind. Mr. Kille however doesn't seem vary effected by the shot as he quickly rolls out of the way of Mason's attack. Chris attacks next with a leap toward Mr. Kille but it is blocked by both swords. Jovi rushes behind Mr. Kille and delivers rapid succession blows to his back. Mason runs up to the wounded Mr. Kille and smashes him with his shield sending him off to the right. Chris with the pike's long range now hammers down on the weakened Mr. Kille sending it into his stomach. Chris retracts the pike and tears out Mr. Kille's guts along with it. As he lies there screaming in pain Jovi runs over and grabs both swords from his weak grasp. He tosses Shadow's sword to Mason as he takes Mason's old sword and drives it through Mr. Kille's head. No longer screaming or moving Mr. Kille just lays there in a pool of his own blood and so too does Shadow. Before they notice it the familiar pocket watch come sliding across the room toward Jovi and Mr. Kille.

Jovi: What's that?

Joe: He said to open it.

Mason: We don't have time, we need to get him back to the study room and patch him up fast.

Chris: What about that giant monster thing?

Mason: We just have to hope it ignores us.

Chris: Shit… fine, let's hurry before there guys get back up.

Mason: Right.

And so Mason, Chris, and Joe hurry to help Shadow back to the study room before he dies on them. Jovi on the other hand picks up the pocket watch and examines it.

Chris: Come on man, help us!

Jovi continues to ignore them and opens the pocket watch. At once Mr. Kille's body began to glow and out of it came a white wisp looking object. It flew into the pocket watch as Jovi and the group stood there looking at it. Before they knew it many more of the wisp's came flying overhead and went directly into the pocket watch. Once all the wisps were inside the pocket watch it somehow shut itself and in the next moment it just shattered into thousands of pieces. The shards gave off a faint glow as they passed through Jovi's fingers only to vanish before they were ever able to hit the floor. The group looked on in astonishment but knew they had to save Shadow if they ever wanted answers or to get out of here for that matter. Rushing past the staircase they looked to see if the beast would react or even be there which it was. As they ran past carrying Shadow it just remained still as if guarding the entrance to the second floor. Past the mansion entrance and into the west wing, down a few hallways and back into the body ridden study room. They took Shadow into the lab and laid him on the in there. The group looked around for anything that could stop the bleeding and hopefully help his wound. The best they could find was some cloth and a needle with some string as they didn't know what any of the chemicals or instruments in the lab did. Joe quickly took over as if he knew exactly what he was doing. After all was said and done the wound on Shadow's back was thoroughly sewed and bandaged up by Joe. In return Joe added some more fine pics to his collection. All they had and could do now was wait hoping he would live to guide them out of this hell hole. They were able to take off their equipment and rest again for a brief moment while waiting for Shadow to wake up. They were still wondering what happened with the pocket watch and how they were going to be able to get past the monster guarding the 2nd floor entrance. For now at least they get a moment of respite.

END OF ACT 9