Atlantis Risen

Chapter Eleven: Lamb's Legacy

Note: I do not own Bioshock nor any related copyrights such as Rapture, ADAM, EVE, Brigid Tenenbaum, and other such related concepts and names.

Well ladies and gentlemen, I'm back to pick up where that little cliffhanger left off. Where were we… oh yeah, Henry and Victor are doomed…

Henry fell backwards as the metal demon landed on his chest, its red eyes staring directly into his own. The creature lifted the long needle imbedded into its arm and brought it down on Henry. Raising his arm, he caught the needle and, despite the demon's superior strength, managed to force it off of his body. The demon rolled and stood up abruptly mere feet away.

The turret had clicked to life, firing rounds into the Big Sister. With a flick of its wrist, the demon levitated the turret and flung it against the wall, shattering into pieces. Again, it turned towards Henry who had frozen in shock.

Henry forced himself up, grabbing the rivet gun that had fallen next to him. By the time he had picked up the heavy contraption, the demon had leapt up onto Steinman's altar and began launching a hailstorm of fire upon Henry's head. Henry's metal armor shielded him from the brunt force of the attack, but the scalding ferocity with which the demon hurled the fire caused him to seek cover, his metal arm covering his face.

He threw himself down a flight of stairs and into a deeper pool of water. His head barely sticking above the water's surface, he could see the demon jump down from its perch and raise its needle.

His glove already off his hand, Henry raised a glowing blue fist at the creature.

"NO!" A hoarse Victor Cobb called out from nearby. Henry and the demon turned to face Vic who had pushed the destroyed Gatling gun from his body. Blood streamed down his face as he called, "You'll kill us all."

In his haste, Henry had forgotten that the same water than now covered the demon's feet also fed the pool of water that Henry was sitting in and Victor was lying in. Swearing under his breath, Henry put down his hand and lifted the heavy rivet gun.

The demon back flipped away as Henry let loose a stream of rivets from the weapon. As the demon launched itself into the air, one rivet hit the beast. It screamed as the rivet pierced the armor on its leg but did no more. Such a shot would cripple a normal man.

Then again Henry thought only to be interrupted by the demon launching itself at Henry from the opposite wall. He ducked under the water as the demon soared overhead, righting itself quickly. Henry tossed himself out of the water and, walking backwards up the stairs, resumed firing at the demon.

Despite the rivets that now tore through the demon's body, it ran up at Henry. Before he could do anything, the demon leapt on top of him and jabbed the needle into his body. Henry gasped with pain as it felt like his life was seeping out of him. His started to feel faint.

Then a rifle shot ricocheted off of the demon's helmet. Turning, it spotted the upright figure of Victor Cobb, rifle in his hands. The demon leapt off of Henry and ran at Victor who fell to the side, still firing. Henry staggered upright, clutching at the bloody tear in his suit. Still, he could feel some force in his body trying to mend it as his unstable genes got to work.

Meanwhile, Victor had staggered to the center of the room by the time the demon got close enough to strike. With a might swing of its fist, the demon sent Victor hurtling onto the staircase leading up to Steinman's altar. With a great scream, the demon raised its needle once more.

Suddenly a metal-gloved fist came out of nowhere and smacked into the demon's face. Under pressure already, the glass that served as a visor cracked, obscuring its vision. It staggered backwards, clutching at its face.

"Hey bitch!"

The demon turned upwards to the sound of the voice. All it could make out was two figures out of the water, the larger with a glowing blue light surrounding its hand. Suddenly a bolt of energy shot out of the figure.

As though pulled by some unseen force, the demon was yanked upright, screaming to the uncaring ceiling. Its body weakened by physical exertion and multiple wounds, the demon finally gave up and softly fell into the water. Electricity played around the body for a moment before the red light faded into darkness.

Henry panted and sunk to the floor, the energy taken out of him. Beside him, Victor had pulled out a candy bar and started eating it.

"I have never had to face… one of those before." Victor forced out of wheezing lungs. "Lamb made them, the Big Sisters."

"Really?" Henry asked standing again, his hand still clutched firmly over the Big Sister's attack. "Well…I hope he doesn't have any more up his sleeve."

Victor shook his head. "Most are probably dead now. This must've been the last one. Go see if you can find anything off of those corpses upstairs, I'll take this creature." He motioned to the Big Sister.

Henry nodded and trudged upstairs. Sighing, Victor hoisted himself up and walked to the corpse of the Big Sister. After searching the body for anything useful, he managed to extract a small vial of ADAM from the needle and some dollar bills which had been tucked in the cage on her back.

He stood up and…

"But Dr. Steinman, you said I would be pretty. You said I would be the best of all of them. Will I?"

"When you awake, I promise you will be the greatest work of art since Aphrodite."

"For Victor?"

"For the world…"

"Vic?"

The grainy images faded away as Victor Cobb stood staring at the operating table. Henry had come back down with any ammunition and weapons he could carry. Hanging from his belt was a brand-new Tommy gun. "Are you okay Victor? You seemed… withdrawn."

Victor turned back to the room where they had found the Gatling gun. "We must have found Steinman's office. He should have a medical computer in here." He turned in and started to search in the back of the forgotten room.

"Vic, what happened there?" Henry asked, following him. "You looked like you were watching something for a moment there."

"You'll see them too soon enough." Victor said under his breath. "Here it is." He lifted a board from the back of the room which had obscured what appeared to be a computer console straight out of old B-list sci-fi movies. Inserting the sample of Steinman's blood into a slot in the computer, he started to mess with the wires, trying to reconnect a broken circuit.

Henry watched silently as Victor started mumbling to himself. He looked back at the women hanging above the altar. He remembered Victor's reaction to the sight of the entrance. He remembered the sad, almost fearful look in Victor's eyes as he stared at the altar.

Turning to face Victor, Henry asked, "What was her name?"

Victor stopped in the middle of reconnecting a wire. There was a brief moment of stifling silence. "Audrey." He responded.

Next Chapter: The Life of Victor Cobbs