Episode Twelve.

BLACK MESA_ _ _| ROCKET TEST CHAMBER_ _ _|

On the other side of the door were two security guard and a box of grenades. One Guard ran out the next door into the chamber, firing off rounds into the monster. He quickly got splattered by a claw a second later.

"This thing is blind." The remaining guard whispers. "It relies on Sound ONLY."

"Well, that's lucky." I note.

Then, with a grin, Nova adds. "That means we can flank it!"

So, I returned to the test chamber and climbed through the window, heading down to the first access point, one floor down.

I swung my crowbar through the wooden planks blocking my way, wincing at the sound it made (thankfully not alerting the monster) and heading down into the hallway that now opened to me.

So, I curiously wondered as I came to the Silo D-03 Access air lock, What kind of creature was this thing that it only reacted to Explosive sounds (such as gun fire and grenades) and not to wood being smashed to pieces?

Where on the evolutionary chain did it stand? More importantly, Did Yuki dream it up during that Cave Cricket incident, and was it only just now appearing in the world?

As I climbed out of the airlock, I noticed a zombie, out of reflex I shot it with the Shotgun.

BANG!

"WOAH!"

SPLOOSH!

I failed to notice the explosive barrel next to it.

*Cue Military Precision*

And so, the walkway was obliterated. (Un)Thankfully, there were two pipes next to the railing that WERE intact. One was blue, and the other red, One Oxygen, and one Fuel. My first thought on this was a simple one: Why are there explosive barrels on poorly constructed walkways everywhere? The Second was, of course the Fuel and Oxygen pipes were intact, this was a rocket Test chamber of course! The third was more curious, why wasn't the walkway made up of the same material the pipes were? The fourth was accompanied with a resigned sigh. I would have to walk across said pipes to cross to the other side.

Doing so was a piece of cake (For some reason I have the strangest urge to yell "THE CAKE IS A LIE!" at the top of my lungs), but, for reasons unknown, Black Mesa seemed fit to throw more into my path. The door marked "Fuel Controls" was locked, leading me to take a small, maintenance ladder down to the next floor where, naturally, was a Zombified Scientist.

I shot it in the head.

On said next floor was a man hole blocked off by security bars. Out of annoyance, I swung my crowbar at the metal, causing it to crumble away within a second.

"Cardboard? They made it out of CARDBOARD!"

So, I climbed back down into the sewer system, annoyed by all that was Black Mesa, even more so when the pipes I was precariously balancing on went in TWO directions.

Going to the left led to a dead end grate, And the right only yielded in yet another ladder.

Right at the top was a Zombie. I cut it's legs out from under it with my crowbar, and it tumbled past me into the water below, howling all the way. So, Down the hallway I went, slightly missing Nova's insane comments about Black mesa's design system at the moment. But, she was busy getting the Power turned on at this exact moment.

It was when I walked through a one way door, into a VERY expansive pipe with a fan at the bottom, and wood planks at the top, that I realized that Destiny Hated me.

So, I started my descent down to the currently inactive fan in an attempt to turn it on.

Later I learned, At that exact moment Nova had restored Power to the entire Rocket test lab.

Not A second after that, the giant fan blade activated, and I- currently balanced on the edge of a walkway- was launched up into the wooden planks above me.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Black Mesa! After all that vent crawling, being flattened against wooden boards is JUST what my back needed.

And Joy! More vent crawling to escape the 150 MPH winds. But, at least I found the controls for Fuel and Oxygen-

Sigh.

-Right behind the locked door from before.

Time to backtrack.

NOVA TSURUYA'S POV_ _ _|

I followed Kyon- and yes, I always call him Kyon in my head- out the window, then headed to the bottom landing. Ol' tentacle was thoroughly distracted by the grenades that I asked the security guard to throw.

"Yeah, go!" I whispered to myself. "Show your shadow who's boss!"

I then knocked down a bunch of wooden bars in my path, and took the right hand turn, 'cause, you know, you should ALWAYS take the right hand path!

I stopped. "Oh COME ON!"

The walkway had rusted away to nothing.

Reluctantly, I jumped across.

"I do not want to do that again." I cursed my luck.

I then went to continue down the walk way when-

BANG!

"WOAH!"

SPLOOSH!

-The walkway crumbled away in-front of me, dropping down into toxic waste.

Rather than risk jumping across again, I scrambled my way over a steel bar mounted into the wall.

Thankfully, I made it to the exit door (Silo D-02 Access) without further incident.

When I saw the flammable barrels on the bridge, for once, I didn't shoot them. I've had enough of collapsing bridges, thank you very much!

Following the "Power" Line seemed to be the right way to go. Of course, I still didn't want to kill those three legged puppy dog things. But those Barnacle rope things from the roof and those Bull-Squids, They Definitely had to go.

My next Challenge: An elevator that stopped mid way down.

All my years of gaming have climaxed to this moment! The elevator's creaking, surely going to fall, and my only chance of escape is either the power line, or a ladder!

Power Line! I choose you!

I jumped just in time, as the elevator then plummeted down into the toxic waste.

"Why thank you mister power line! I think you're cute too!" I chanted to it as I climbed down. "Do you have a brother?"

"Don't expect me to go to the generator." A Scientist said once I got off the pipe like power cord. "Smithers went down there...and never came back."

"Suuuure he did." I rolled my eyes. "Which was the generator again?"

The scientist glared at me like I was crazy (and I am!).

I stuck my tongue out in retaliation.

He pointed towards the tunnel behind him, and I cheerfully skipped off, down the aisle.

I found a rather large chamber at the end of it, filled with toxic waste and.. A bull-squid.

Whatever these things are, the radiation would have killed it sure enough. But I'm not known for my patience when it comes to puzzles.

I threw a grenade at it.

BOOM!

With that taken care of, I climbed onto a small cart and pressed the Up arrow.

Suddenly, the cart "WOOSH"ed alltheway to the right.

"Wheeeeee!" I repeated said "Woosh" around three or four times until I'd gotten dizzy before I climbed up the ladder.

There was another "WOOOSH" Cart up here too! Except it was stuck on "Faster than furious" mode.

That...would probably kill me the second I stepped on it. Best to avoid it, So I did.

There was yet another ladder on either side of the chamber leading to the generator suspended above the pit. It kinda reminds me of that movie, Catch That Kid, where the girl climbed up the bank vault to get the money for her dad's operation. Except, unlike Maddie there, I'm turning on power.

And Unlike the movie, the only thing on the generator was a scientist.

"Doctor Smithers I presume?" I asked with a grin. "Mind if I call you 'Smitty'?"

"This is MY hiding spot, and I'm not leaving until the situation has Drastically improved!" Smitty replied. "Go Away! And don't tell anyone I'm here!"

I shrugged. "Fine, Smitty! Be that way! But when I become a millionairess, and you need help, don't come crying to me!"

"I don't even KNOW who you are!" Smitty replied.

"Oh Smitty! You poor, naive fool!" I turned on the generator, and returned to the "woosh" ride and the collapsed elevator.

"EXCELLENT!" Angry Scientist 02 cheered happily. "Someone has restored full power! We'll have the engine up and running in no time!"

I blinked. "Suuure..."

I then started up a ladder. Time to backtrack.

KYON'S POV_ _ _|

By the time I made it back to the control room, Nova and the security guard were standing heroicly at the controlls.

"Ready for some Smoked Tentacles?" Nova asked with a grin.

"The question is, are you ready for the smell?" I asked in return.

Nova laughed before putting her hand over the trigger. "Three...!"

"...Two...!" I put my hand right on top of hers.

"...ONE!" We cried at once before pressing the trigger.

BWRRM.

BWRRM.

BWRRM.

Then, the Rocket Fired.

"YEAH!" The guard cheered. "Stay Out Of Black Mesa!"

"AND DON'T COME BACK!" I Threw a Grenade in for good measure.

"BURN! BURN! BURN!" Nova laughed triumphantly.

The rocket finished its test fire, and we all stood there with smiles on our faces.

TO BE CONTINUED.

AN: WOW. That was almost...Five? Six? episodes of Freeman's mind into one Episode of story! So. Yeah. This probably wouldn't have even been written if I hadn't put my mind to it. I get distracted VERY Easily. Like Right Now. As I type, I am switching back and forth between URU and this page to feed the Lake In D'ni. Just now I stoped at the "to."

It's summer. I should manage my time better. (-_-;)

|)||+|K|