A Chance, Countdown begins
Previously on Anarchy and the Detective…
Cody is a hard man still haunted by the memories of the drama show that ruined his life, he holds large grudges to some but now he has to put everything aside including seeing Gwen again from Casteon who has the asylum in lockdown with patients armed to the teeth and dangerous…
"You want me to do what?" Cody could not believe it, he had the gun aimed right at the unexposed head of the bomber still standing over the ledge that would send a man to his doom plunging and drowning in the water, the small sounds of twinkling water falling into the large fountain base but the darkness turned it into a swallowing abyss like diamonds sparkling the time passing as the detective was frozen in his spot the gun still trained for a shot to the head. Casteon just smiled on, his mouth opened to goad him again with his arms still outstretched as Crane aimed the Nightmare armament at the patients still shuffling in their positions letting out inhumane grunts and hands were shaking uncontrollably as the doctor assessed his surroundings. He looked at the detective at the forefront of the circle that broke into a semi, the detective unable to find the strength to fire the trigger yet.
"C'mon detective, haven't I done enough? I've killed dozens of innocent civilians, turned your friend mad with grief and insecurity even now I hang your two friends over a huge fountain which is deep enough to drown them instantly…or are you so scared to pull the trigger?" Cody could not help firing a warning shot into the air, the bullet smashing its way past a feeble glass window into the sky his face still torn between confusion and doing his duty. He did promise the chief he wouldn't turn into the bomber's side of thinking, but now he had the opportunity to defend himself from any attack…he did do enough to do so with the morning escapee and the murder of guards inside trying to mess around with their heads to the extent to shove the detective in a library ready to set him alight with Noah, Noah…Cody now found a new strength to pull the gun back again ready to take the shot at the criminal mastermind. Crane could realize this was possibly a trap, just waiting to be sprung when the detective pulled the trigger of his gun which sent alarms ringing in his head the doctor spun to meet the detective who was almost ready to do what he came here to do a hand raised halting the process.
"Wait! There's something wrong with this!"
"Shut up Crane! I have to do this, you don't understand if we let this man free what damage it could have on us…he's a criminal, and we have to kill him right here right now!" Cody snapped at the doctor who took a step back, he knew that now the decision was finalized by the odds but he could see the bomber's smiling grin that it was not to be so today. Crane immediately acted quickly, charging at the detective who prepared to fire into the man's head his shoulder was armed to hit Cody across into the ribs sending him tumbling onto the floor a pain sent through his nerves the gun cluttered away from Cody's grasp, the doctor then walked forward to grab the man by the scruff of his neck driving him up on his feet before shoving an scruff Cody.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Stopping you, at best. For what it's worth…this is not the answer to anything, I can handle this very well better than your current deranged psychiatric state of mind to kill a criminal when he gives you the chance. It never works out. You had something waiting up your sleeve just for this moment, isn't that right Casteon?" Crane asked the criminal who slung his hands down letting them dangle like chains as he giggled, a hand drawn out from the pocket to reveal a pistol that seemed to point into the detective's own direction as he sighed a playful sigh observing the armament.
"How sad, Crane…you ruined the surprise. But I guess that would amount to nothing much, now won't it? How very disappointing…but then again, I have questions for you myself about your little Neverland Project." Crane's eyes narrowed already anticipating the unavoidable question on the duo's minds, he recalled the bomber had access to even the strictest archives in the records through the computer network. When Isward Nuremo founded Erebus, a man who trained in the art of psychology and rehabbed many patients releasing them into the world with changes to their personality, the man had made it a paradise for any insane man who would venture in taken by the breathtaking scenes of the facilities but soon things got trickier with some patients ready to kill themselves, Isward was forced to resign to desperate measures by security holding cells with the necessary needs of a comfortable bed and a separate area for the bathroom trying to make it roomy as possible, but under all that cover Nuremo knew that it was inevitable some could not be cured or refused to…
So he created Neverland, a psychiatric project disguised as a 'treatment' for other members of the public it was weird to them that it would be called such a name and ignored it. But Crane knew well what they went through, his father Jonathan Walter Crane had been the chief scientist twenty years ago working hard into the night and arguing over the phone with superiors, as the years ticked away Crane suddenly became interested in psychology for the reasons of helping mad people see the world as crazy as it was to even the most sane. However, Jonathan soon revealed much on the phone whenever he was out working Edward would sneak in and listen intently to the recordings eyes widening in horror at what he heard, what they were doing to the patients who suddenly had died of accidents. All for an experiment, and that experiment led to him being hired by the asylum itself allowing him to see what they did to these mysterious 'accidents' causing the majority of the death rate in the city. That was then when he knew what exactly the superiors were capable of, hanging patients in cages hung in the aviary and soon they would inject all sorts of drugs sending them into delusional states sometimes as Crane witnessed himself; death…but yet he carried on as his father disappeared one night nowhere to be found except his own glasses shattered and stamped on in the study where an open window was discovered. He never saw his father again, but he had a feeling the asylum was responsible for it…
"That project is classified and specified only for mental institutional patients, none of your concern at the moment." Crane spoke firmly, the bomber could see that the doctor would choose not to even accept neither the question nor his demands from there. There really isn't any point in doing so when the stubbornness of people block him from getting what he wants, but what the heck he had two hostages to use as a leverage…smiling to himself Casteon made the two glance in utter disgust as he pulled a lever next to him sending the cages rolling from their places watching his next two victims squirm and rattle the bars like raging maddened dogs, their screams and yells louder than ever as the gears grounded to a halt over the deadly lake.
"Well, we start round 1 of our very own EREBUS SMACKDOWN! On this side we have the poor old detective and his doctoral pet, and on the other armed to the teeth with buns of steel and fists of iron, crowbars and pipes of doom…these wielders are the worst of the worst, the vilest of the vilest. Welcome…EREBUS' own patients! Here's the low down on what's going to happen, face three of the most insane and criminally unstable in this free for all of blood and broken bones before my timer runs out, and you get to free Miss Queen Bee and the obnoxious bitch." He spat in Courtney's direction who could give no answer nor comeback to his statement except only whimper at the swallowing dark water, Cody's eyes narrowed at the cage and Casteon before settling on the twenty patients that surrounded them armed and giggling like it was a game to them. He tensed as the bomber now turned to a nearby bell, his hands on the switch before he flicked it hearing the loud annoying blaring that rang all across as ten of the patients shuffled into a circle surrounding the make-shift ring while ten remained their thin lanky and sometimes muscled bodies with pipes and crowbars seemed too much to handle.
"And…BEGIN!" Cody felt a fist slide across his face catching him off by surprise as he flew from his standing position onto the floor his coat burned as fabric rubbed itself with the stone tiles, the detective's vision was almost blurred but before he could relax a patient with a crowbar immediately raised his weapon up in a strike. His eyes widened in terror, Cody rolled to his left hearing the sharp crack of steel ringing against the stone floor while he heard the deep breathing of the patient then a small laugh as he stood up jumping aside as another armed patient swung his crowbar horizontally in a slash the detective could hear the whoosh of the metal as it clanged onto the floor and the patient moved forwards dragging the crowbar with sparks flying into the air. Crane reacted faster than any of the patients nor the bomber had expected, in less than two seconds the bell range did he sweep his leg down hooking the ankles of three men ready to pound him with fists hearing the growls of disbelief as he sneered tackling each of them to the ground their bodies thudding on the floor before the doctor raised his gun and without mercy fired a round of Nightmare into each of them. The doctor jumped in the air to avoid an attack to the ribs with a pipe before he raised his gun in front of his face blocking the sharp end of the pipe that shot out to sever a hole in his head, the sparks began to fly as each weapon grinded against each other like bloodhounds unable and unwilling to let down. Crane heard a distinct whoosh from behind as he ducked down immediately, taking the gun off the pipe as the patient moved in for what he assumed was an easy kill with a mad flurry of hits to the head but he was wrong; at that time another patient with a crowbar swung at the same time and before each knew it a large dark object covered the side of their faces as they hit themselves hard, the doctor could hear the cracking of bone before he slid the gun in his holster planting his own sweaty hands onto the pavement raising his feet up defensively to lock blows with a patient who raised his crowbar for a strike instead the man's expression of victory turned to utter horror as the dark sole smashed his lower jaw bringing a gritty feeling to his teeth. Crane knew the hit and his hands tapped off the stone bringing his feet into a vertical full circle, the patient growling as his face rose to the doctor only to see a smirking Crane and a shadow looming over his scalp, the heel of his shoe thudded onto the heavy muscled body of the patient sending the head falling straight down with gravity smashing itself right onto the stone cracking his neck killing him instantly, the doctor just brushed his coat as he watched amusingly the twitching fingers of the dying man before a few moments later it died down the small nimble fingers curled itself up in rigor mortis.
Cody was not really dealing so well, the detective managed to disarm a patient with a lock of his arm and butted the blunt end into the raging madman's chest before he used the crowbar in defense parrying the various blows aimed at him by patients mad enough to use their fists or stayed behind to swing a pipe or two. He had noticed the numbers thin down a little by an estimate four or more, he couldn't tell anymore even from his left nor right as each blow rang through his system which broke down the man barely finding any time to recover, his grip on the crowbar was slippery and sweaty as well as the fact a couple of patients were hammering at him with all they had. Suddenly he heard a sound of silenced gunfire, seeing the men in front of him cornering him near the lake fall to the ground one of them accidentally fell forward past Cody and into the water stunned before he rose from the water surface arms thrashing as he screamed loudly, Cody could see Crane standing over the bodies of five men unconscious but his eyes caught sight of a motionless man as he looked up at the doctor in inquiry about what he saw. Casteon stood on the platform impressed remarkably by the skill Crane managed to get out of the fix, unlike the weak puny scrawny detective who couldn't throw a single punch he was much more adept as such surrounding tactics beating back five of his men and killing one in the process, a meager numeral at best…he looked towards the two women silent as a grave watching the one fight that would save them both, or so they think.
"Alright then, I see this isn't a challenge for you. Fine, let's see…four and a half minutes! Not bad, not bad Doc you sure know how to beat them around the bush, and I mean it literally."
"Save your breath, Casteon. I could beat these punks all day like volleyballs, want to come down here and let me give a live demonstration?" Crane retorted back, the bomber laughed hilariously at the threat as he slapped his hands upon his knees kneeling over with humor, then raising his head a moment later to wipe a tear from his eye.
"I say, Doc…you really bring a smile to my face. But then, I want to up the stakes…one minute to win ten of the most gruesome fighters in all of the asylum's history, want to take up the challenge?" He dared, the detective could hardly pay attention as his world almost spun but he kept his focus on the two fellow contestants and Casteon's smiling face. The doctor merely shrugged unaffected by the narrow time limit posed to him, his fingers already in his belt as the patients got ready to charge Cody could barely stand next to him before something was tossed in his hands which the detective puzzled opened up his fist to see a small white pill. Crane was seen slipping one into his mouth as he looked at Cody with a warning gesture of his hand for what he was about to say while he swallowed it in a gulp.
"Quickly, gulp that down or I can't save you." The warning was enough for Cody to hurriedly stuff the pill in his throat feeling a slight burning sensation warming up his throat but died off in a few seconds, the bell starting to ring as the patients did a mad rush from all directions hell-bent on raising a flurry of hits on their opponents. Crane merely gave a smirk as he unhooked a small pin and grabbed the top of a small rectangular can throwing it onto the ground, engulfing the waves in a sudden burst of clouds that hissed night blue somehow to the detective who looked at the color in amazement but soon it was replaced by horrendous yells and screams as he looked around seeing shadows of men limping and shredding at each other in terrified screams of agony. His eyes widened when he recalled the mention of Crane's explanation about three types of fear-inducing toxins, this must be the first success of its time…but the results were devastating with the gas clearing into the air via the broken glass window breaking the whole cover of the gas shroud.
The bodies of men stacked up all around him was enough to throw him off balance, their fingers were twitching but they were all motionless…as though they were dead. The screaming seemed to have gone on for hours but as he watched the bomber check his timer in a disgusted face, he knew they had won far beyond his own lowered underestimates. The bomber could not help but give a glare as he threw the timer down at his feet and stomped on it, hearing the crack of glass as the hands stopped in their tracks the criminal then proceeding to the edge where the cages were left hanging Courtney and Heather were just staring at his gleaming face under the moonlight.
"Curses…I thought you would have lasted much shorter, but then again I am a fair man. I will release them, but Cody should have paid more attention to what was behind me than what he saw as a valuable target. You want these women? Take them if you can!" He yelled as a lever suddenly appeared next to him, Crane instantly knew what was going on before the spoke the words to Cody who looked absolutely stunned.
"Dammit Cody! The key! He has one key!" He pointed as the cages were dropped much to both men's horror as the bomber laughed menacingly, the two women's faces were shocked to the core pleading with Cody for one mere second before they descended with a loud splash. Cody immediately broke into a rage as he tried to charge for the bomber, Crane managing barely to hold the man back as Casteon wagged his finger in a small taunt at the enraged man.
"Now, now…you can still save them. Here, you have the key. Have a wonderful time with your prize, or lose them both. HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHA!" The bomber laughed as he tossed the key towards them from the platform, the golden metal item skidded onto the surface in front of the two as he walked into the control room, disappearing with the door sliding behind him to shut them all away. Cody didn't waste any more time, breaking free of the doctor's grip and dived for the key reaching the lake where he could still see bubbles rise to the surface but not for long and one of them is dead, Crane could not help as he saw the man dive right into the icy cold water without a second's thought but only that the detective could rescue one of them if possible. Deep down into the dark abyss swam Cody reaching the cages at the bottom of the water, surrounded by some seaweed and other sorts of creatures that lurked there the detective sprung bubbles as he grabbed the cage doors of each one not sure of who to choose, and his mind was swirling with thoughts and confusion as he stared at each girl from left to right.
I can't help both of them, who do I pick? Courtney? She is helpful to me and despite her being an annoying person I want to bring her out of it, she's Duncan's girl. But what about Heather the queen bee you didn't like the first few seasons? She was also a very crass person, I wanted to help her all the more through the tough times…what do I do? Who do I choose! Cody could not think of any answer but the gasps for breath told him that time was running out of the clock, not long before both of them drown as the detective panicked before he tried to calm himself. Closing his eyes he could only think of one name: Gwen, who would she want to save more? He sighed; it won't help him…he can only follow his gut wasting no time in fetching the key out and reaching for the cage.
Crane sat on the floor surrounded by the dead, it was tranquil and peaceful despite the fact he had just killed twenty people with his gas lying still as stones. The dripping sound of the water falling into the lake was enough to kill the time he spent, but soon was replaced by the splashing sound as he turned to the wall eyeing the detective's bobbing head along with one more accompanying him. The doctor raised his eyebrows as he saw Cody dragging out Courtney unharmed but unconscious dragging her wet soaking clothed body onto the pavement, Crane could not believe Cody would actually save one of them playing along with the bomber's own game as the detective leaned over and did CPR on her, his palms helping to extract the water accumulated into her mouth watching one large spring after another following.
"So, did you…" Cody could shake his head, eyes downcast as he recounted the earlier minutes that passed hands still trying to revive his fellow contestant.
"No, Heather apparently drowned when I got to her cage…Courtney was the only one left alive. I could have saved them both but then I had to choose, and in the end I couldn't save all of them how ironic." He said sadly unable to comprehend what he witnessed down there in the abyss, Crane could never really find any words to comfort Cody in his own self-blame as he placed his two fingers onto her throat finding a small pulse to his relief. He stood up, hands taking the girl in his arms and both of them walked towards the door that led them out to the entrance of the aviary as there was really no more point to do so, going to where they would find Noah standing at the door ready to bolt when he had the chance. As the two turned to open the door, Crane spoke reassuringly to the detective as he slid his card onto the slot watching the security panel reading the identity number, Cody was still eyeing the floor while the doctor gave another heave to carry Courtney.
"At least you saved one of them." They heard the click of the door sliding open, the two stepped through the doorway. Suddenly, the sound of something falling down caught them by attention as the two ducked down with the doctor shielding the young woman in his arms while Cody drew his pistol at the two figures landing off the ground, their feet were not moving but instead fell silent as Cody reached into his pocket to grab a flashlight, the switch led the light to fall on a horrible sight as the detective retracted himself away from them eyes wide and mouth opened in terror.
"No, is that…" The flashlight scanned the two hanging bodies, the light fell on their faces revealing similar clothing but one of them was slightly more obese than the skinny toned girl as Cody could just sink to his knees, the torch rolling over onto the floor with his pistol thrown aside bringing his hands to his head. Crane could stare in some hidden horror at the very sight of the hanging look-alikes, he could only think of two names to fit their body weight complete with a large knife scar that ran from a corner of their mouths to another contrasting the wide open eyes and the gaping mouth leaving the sliced skin flapping as flies swarmed around their lifeless forms.
"Katie and Sadie." Cody suddenly took a look around him, his ears perking up as he scanned the whole surroundings of quiet nature which made Crane stared at him questionably before the detective gave the doctor a frightened expression speaking the one thing on his mind.
"Where's Noah?"
End