Kihonne: Alright guys, once again, sorry about the really long HIATUS. But like I promised, I'm going to make it up to you by giving you the last two chapters of the story, plus a sneak peak at the third story in the Facility Arc, The Return of Heroes. Here's the first chapter in the set, but before we get onto that, it's shoutout time!
Xxx
AllAmericanSlurp: Alright, thanks for the heads-up. I hope you enjoy your trip, and enjoy the chapters. I'm glad you enjoyed Roxanna's bit in the last chapter, and yes, Derek is finally dead. Dead, gone, never coming back. Except in nightmares. As for the icicle, it wasn't like those small ones that hang of the side of roofs. It was a pretty massive one. Likely about the same size as the one Roxanna used to knock Vivyanna out in The Facility.
Alamodie: Thanks for understanding about school.
Guest: The 10th? Lucky. We didn't get out until really late. Thanks for understand though. And yes, the rest of the story. There really isn't much left, so I figured I'd give it all to you guys. Enjoy!
Cap. Kayla: I totally understand your point about making it last, but don't worry. There really wasn't much left to post, and the sooner the way I'm ending it, it won't seem like an ending. It'll seem like the beginning of another, action-packed story. Trust me on that. As for the third protagonist, you're about to find out!
ILOVEBRACKENFUR: I did not have an immediate plans to bring pregnancies into the story, but I do plan on going deeper into relationships for the next one in line.
Tor Raptor: Thank you so much. I always like that kind of writing organization style and I figured, "what the hell, I might as well try it out". And you're right about Derek dying being a good thing. It's time to even things out a bit, am I right?
UrFriendTheNinja: Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
MoonlitShadowsoftheHumanSoul: Sometimes, cliché is a good thing. And I think that while it was a bit cliché, it was it was the good kind of cliché. If that makes sense.
PrincessSparkleKitty: I'm glad you liked it, and though you're not going to see any Chase/Vivyanna this chapter, you'll see plenty in the next.
tiff n b36: I'm glad you enjoyed it so much! Thanks!
Candycanelila: Don't worry, he's going to survive another chapter. He won't die today…Eventually though, he might…Originally, I was going to kill him instead of Mira in The Facility. I'm glad I didn't though. His character has so much more potential than hers did. And don't worry, Derek's gone. I'm that kind of person who has a little too much fun killing off characters.
Dirtkid123: Yeah, I get your joke. LOL. Enjoy!
LabGirl2001: Ah, yes. Maybank. It's his turn to fight.
Snooptastic: Yes, he's finally dead! You love MCR too? Awesome! As for misjudging Leo's location, sorry. I've never actually been to New York, so I've been just making it up as I go along. I'm glad you liked the chapters though. And as for Chase, he hasn't done anything stupid…yet, but you might understand what I meant about his motives by the end of this chapter. One thing to remember: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Actually, I might use that line in my next story…it fits so well with the plot…
Xxx
Kihonne: Anyway, it's time for the chapter! S-1, do the disclaimer!
S-1: Kihonne doesn't own lab rats, myself, or any of the Davenports. She only owns her OCs, this story, and anything else you do not recognize.
xxx
Rhyder's POV
"Chase, duck!" I shouted, leaping over my friend and pushing three soldiers away with my abilities. The boy genius nodded at me, quickly spinning to avoid a hit from one of the other soldiers and taking him down with a plasma ball to the stomach.
"Thanks!" I heard him call before he turned back to the mass of soldiers. We were still outnumbered, but things seemed to be going a little better for us now that we had an actual plan. And as soon as the sisters were done with their part of the plan, their abilities would really make a difference.
I dodged another solider, throwing him back several feet. But another had come up from behind me and tackled me to the ground. Biting back a cry of pain, I tried to shove him off me, but he was too big and I was still injured from my time as Maybank's prisoner.
Luckily, Chase had my back, knocking the solider out and off of me. He held out his hand and I took it gratefully, slowly getting back to my feet. "You alright?" He asked, glancing at me. I nodded, wincing.
"I'll live." I grunted, looking around. The amount of soldiers around us had lessened, but that only meant that they were pre-occupied elsewhere.
"Look, we need to figure something else out." Chase told me, sounding a little breathless. "We can take out as many soldiers as we want, but it's Maybank we really need to get rid of."
"Without a leader, they've got no reason to fight." I agreed absently. I looked around, trying to spy a certain dark haired soldier. "S-1!"
She didn't answer, instead ducking gracefully under the arm of one soldier before grabbing it, pinning it behind his back, and throwing him into the nearest wall. She flipped another over her shoulder, then suddenly disappeared.
She reappeared next to us, one hand on my shoulder for support. "You okay?" I asked, a little worried. She nodded.
"Yeah, just landed wrong when I teleported." She replied. "I take it boy genius has a better plan?"
Chase chuckled. "How do you feel about taking out Maybank?"
She hesitated. "Just the three of us?" She asked uncertainly.
"Hey, it'll be fine." I assured her, and I meant it. He was only human, after all. How hard would it be to take him out?
"Alright." She nodded solemnly. "I guess it's our best bet. Without him, the soldiers would be easier to deal with."
"Agreed." I nodded. "So, anyone know where he is?"
That made Chase stop. "Uh…"
"He'll be at their base camp." S-1 said thoughtfully.
"Do you know where that is?" Chase demanded. She nodded.
"I can show you." She offered me her hand, a small, brave smile of her face. "It's time to end this."
S-1's POV
I wasn't all that sure of this plan. Mr. Maybank was smart, really smart. He would be expecting the team to come for him, and he would know that I'd defected from his army by now. He'd kill me on sight, certainly.
So why the hell was I crazy enough to go through with this? Maybe it was Rhyder. He was my friend, my first real friend, and I trusted him. But maybe it was the others too. They were all fighting so hard, putting their lives at risk. They'd already lost some of their own, yet they were willing to fight and, if need be, die for the civilians. Maybe it was their bravery rubbing off on me that made me want to defeat Mr. Maybank.
I led the boys towards the base camp. It was close, by the river, just as Mr. Maybank had told us. The location had been picked purposefully – the river would be a good place to dump the bodies of the enemy, AKA Rhyder and his friends, if we needed to. Also, it was close enough to all of Mr. Maybank's main targets that he would be able to see the destruction with his own eyes without getting involved.
To my surprise, the camp was almost completely empty. Only a few of the soldiers (S-27, S-6, and S-15) were still hanging around, and another person inside a large tent. That had to be Mr. Maybank. Who else could it be?
"Strange…" I murmured. Chase looked at me, so I elaborated. "I expected Mr. Maybank to have more guards."
"Maybe they're out there." Rhyder gestured at the larger part of the city. "Fighting."
"Or maybe they're hiding." Chase, always the strategist. He activated his comm. "Everyone, check in."
I couldn't hear who was talking, or what they were saying, but clearly something was wrong, judging by the frown on Chase's face. "Where's Vivyanna?...Are you sure?...And Derek…Roger that."
"Firefly okay?" Rhyder asked. Chase looked at him. "What? It's better than calling her Vivy."
"I have a feeling that she's going to hate 'Firefly' more." Chase chuckled. "She's fine, just broke her comm set in her fight with Derek."
"Derek, who's dead, right?" Rhyder asked hopefully. Chase grinned.
"He got shish-kabobed by an icicle." He replied. I let out a sigh of relief. Derek was dead. He couldn't come back after any of us now. He was gone.
Chase went back to the people on the comm set, oblivious to my obvious relief at his news. "Alright guys, we've got a little plan going, but we're going to need you guys to keep the rest of the soldiers busy." He paused to hear their responses. "Just do it, Alex. Chase out."
He looked at us. "Let's go."
With that final word, he began leading us towards the camp. Sticking to the sides, we managed to stay out of the soldier's sights. Then we attacked.
I went for S-27, knowing that he would underestimate me. He was strong and cunning, but too confident in his own abilities. He always underestimated his opponents, likely why Mr. Maybank had his on security detail instead of out there fighting. I took him down with easy, knocking him out with a swift, silent hit to the head before slowly lowering him to the ground. I saw the others do the same, keeping their attacks short and silent. Chase pointed at himself, then at Mr. Maybank's tent, then formed a plasma ball in his hands. Rhyder nodded, smirking a bit. Clearly, he'd been waiting for his shot at Mr. Maybank.
Chase stood outside the tent for a moment, concentrating as his plasma ball grew bigger. Then he threw his hands out, the massive ball of energy exploding from his hands. It shot into the tent, right through the center. There was no way Mr. Maybank could have dodged it, no way he could have survived such a hit.
But he did.
"How…" Chase stumbled back, eyes wide with shock as Mr. Maybank stepped out from his tent, the plasma ball perfectly balanced in his hands.
"Did you lose this?" Mr. Maybank smirked before throwing the plasma ball right back at Chase. The genius came back to his senses just in time to hit the dirt, narrowly avoiding losing his head. Mr. Maybank just smirked and threw him back several feet onto the unforgiving earth.
"You have powers?" Rhyder exclaimed, shocked. Mr. Maybank smirked.
"You think I'd just give everyone powers but myself? Clearly, I underestimated your stupidity." Mr. Maybank replied. He glanced at me. "And I see you brought S-1. How lovely for you to join us, traitor."
I stepped back a little, suddenly afraid. I hadn't known about his powers. If I had, I never would have come here, not with just the three of us anyway. I would have told them, would have made Rhyder and Chase wait for the others.
"Hey! Leave her alone, ugly!" Rhyder launched himself at Mr. Maybank, only to be batted away by super-strength. I took advantage of Rhyder's distraction and threw a fireball at him, hoping to catch him off guard. No such luck. He caught it with his bare hands and shot it back at me. It hit me in the chest, knocking me clean off my feet. I hit my head hard against the ground, my vision going black.
I couldn't have been out for more than a few seconds though, because when I opened my eyes, Mr. Maybank was advancing on me. I tried to get away, but the world was spinning so badly that I couldn't even get to my feet.
Rhyder came to my rescue, of course, throwing Mr. Maybank away from me with his psychic abilities. He preoccupied my former leader as strong hands guided me to my feet. "Did you know about his powers?" Chase demanded, steadying me with one hand. I shook my head, instantly regretting it made my stomach churn.
"N-No." I replied. "I didn't, though it makes sense that he would do something like this."
Chase nodded, glancing at Rhyder. He and Mr. Maybank were exchanging psychic blows, neither causing too much damage, but still enough to hurt a lot. "So, what powers does he have? Mine and Vivyanna's?"
"All of them, I'd wager." I replied. Chase frowned at me. "At the beginning, he started giving us everyone's powers. But they were wearing us out too much, so he started giving us only some. Most people have a maximum of three, but the first ten of us have all of them. I wouldn't be surprised if that's when he gave himself powers, so he's likely to have everyone's abilities."
"Right. Awesome." Chase grumbled sarcastically. I nodded at him, then teleported just behind Mr. Maybank. I kicked him at the back of his knees, using a bit of my super strength to send him to the ground. It didn't last long though, as I suddenly found myself flat on the ground, the psychic wave making me eat dirt. I spun around, getting to my feet just in time to be thrown into a wall by another psychic blast. Mr. Maybank glared at me, true hatred in his eyes.
"I should have known you'd betray me. You were always weak." He growled before shooting a blast of icicles the size of baseball bats my way. I closed my eyes, knowing I'd never be able to move in time.
"Ah!" My eyes snapped open at the sound of pain. I gasped, eyes wide with horror when I saw Rhyder hit the ground in front of me, his body slightly curled around his gut. One of the icicles was buried in his abdomen, blood sluggishly dripping from the wound. I fell to my knees, staring at him.
"Rhyder…" I murmured. Why did he do that?
As if reading my mind, the boy smirked weakly. "Promised I wouldn't let him hurt you."
I stared at him, shaking my head. He shouldn't have done that. He deserved to live much more than I did. I reached towards the icicle, only for Chase to stop me. "It's the only thing stopping him from bleeding out." He murmured.
Mr. Maybank stood above us, smirking at the scene. "You see what happens when you oppose me?" He questioned mockingly.
Rage boiled in my stomach, filling every bit of me. How dare he mock us? How dare he hurt us? How dare he do any of this? Maybank was the worst of humanity, the worst of the people that populated our planet. And I wasn't about to let a monster like him win.
"Chase." I said slowly, taking a deep breath. "Form a shield around you and Rhyder and don't drop it until Maybank's dead."
"S-1?" Chase looked at me, confused. I looked back, all my fear gone.
"Just trust me." I told him, getting to my feet. I stepped away from them, giving Chase the space he needed for his force field. Then I started towards Maybank, fire exploding around me.
"You really think you're going to kill me?" He dared to laugh. "Don't be daft, you stupid little girl. You're not strong enough."
"Aren't I?" I challenged, feeling the power swirl within me. "I'm one of the ones who got all the powers. Pyrokinesis, telekinesis, cryokinesis, super strength, super speed…it's all mine to control."
"Using that much power would kill you." He warned, fires surrounding him even as the power within me grew.
"I know. But some things are worth dying for." And with that, I attacked. I charged at him, using both super speed and super strength to propel me towards him. He tried to dodge, but I was faster. I flew at him, throwing both of us through his tent. We hit the ground, a blur of speed and strength and fire.
We blasted shot after shot at each other, each hitting their targets. But I was younger and more durable – after all, I'd been made to fight against powers like these. He hadn't. And I had something to fight for that was stronger than greed – my friends.
After only a few minutes though, I could feel a pain in my head start to grow, and a light-headedness washed over me. But I had to keep going. I couldn't let Maybank win.
I pushed him away, concentrating all my power on him. As the power grew, as the pain in my head grew more noticeable, I thought back to Rhyder and the kindness he'd shown me. I thought back to the trust his friends placed in me. And I thought back to why I had to win – Maybank was evil. And evil could not be allowed to triumph.
"Don't do this, kid." Maybank warned. There was a hint of fear in his voice, mixed in with the anger. I just shook my head.
"Yes, I do." I declared before shooting. The blast was a mix of telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and cryokinesis, creating something akin to pure energy.
The blast shot through him, flinging Maybank a hundred feet away. He landed with a loud thud, not moving. And from where I stood, I was fairly sure he wasn't even breathing. I let out a shaky breath, a sense of victory flooding through me.
Then, my brain exploded.
Chase's POV
I watched in shock as S-1's blast hit Maybank square in the chest. The blast threw him back several feet, the explosion from the impact hitting everything within contact. Luckily, it bounced harmlessly off my force field and didn't seem to touch S-1, but it destroyed everything in its path.
I waited a few seconds, part of me expecting Maybank to get up, part of me knowing that he never would. Then, after a shaky nod from a pale Rhyder, I lowered the force field and approached Maybank.
His body was mutilated with burns and gashes. The form was covered in blood from head to toe, his eyes staring sightlessly at the smoke filled sky. I didn't even need to check for a pulse to know that we was dead.
"S-1!" I barely heard Rhyder's soft cry, and I wouldn't have if not for my bionic hearing. I spun around just in time to see the former soldier crumble to the ground. I raced to her, hitting my knees near her head and checked her over.
Physically, there weren't many injuries, but it was obvious that she had pushed herself to far. Each breath was too shallow, too weak, her eyes only partially open. A stream of blood still poured from her nose, staining the skin around her mouth. I took her wrist, feeling her pulse get weaker and weaker.
"C'mon, stay with me." I murmured, seeing her eyelids flutter. "Stay awake, S-1."
Her eyes, watery and glassy with pain, tried to focus on me. "That's it. You're going to be okay. Didn't Rhyder say we'd protect you? You're going to be fine."
I was lying through my teeth, and we both knew it. She was growing weaker by the second, and there was nothing anyone could do.
"'s he…de'd?" She gasped weakly. I nodded quickly.
"Yes. You got him. You saved us." I promised. "You did great, S-1."
She smiled, revealing blood-stained teeth. "Worth it…"
Her face became lax, her eyes shutting for what I knew was the last time. She took one last breath, and then stilled.
I sat there, staring down at her body. I'd hardly known her, had only spoken to her a few times, yet I felt the pain of her death so harshly. It wasn't right that she died. It wasn't right that Mr. Davenport died. It wasn't right that Adam died. None of this was right. How could the world come to this? Senseless violence and bloody deaths? How could that be my world?
Had it not been for these powers, the ones that the soldiers had, that Derek had, that ANY of us had, then things would have been different. Nobody would have died. Everyone would be okay. My family would still be intact. S-1 could have lived a normal life. Vivyanna, Alex, Roxanna, and Rhyder never would have been subjected to the horrors of the Facility. Hell, Mira would even be alive.
Powers, bionics, abilities, that's what started all of this. That's the reason the world had come to this. If only we could find a way to make sure nothing like this ever happened again…
"Chase." I looked up, dragged out of my thoughts by the sound of my name. Above me stood the rest of my team. Bree, holding her shoulder in obvious pain. Alex, worn and exhausted. Roxanna, with a slight limp. Marcus, one arm wrapped around his waist with a pained grimace on his face. And Vivyanna, my beautiful Vivyanna, blood covering half her face. They were all hurt, but very much alive. And they would live. I would make sure that so long as we were together, no one else would ever be killed by something like this.
I gave them all a grim look. "It's over."
Kihonne: Not really. I have another chapter to post. Alright, since I'm not going to post all the chapters today – I'd love to see a few reviews between chapters so I could do shoutouts, here's how this is going to work. Today is the 3rd of July, so…
The End of the Beginning: July 4th
Sneak Peek of "The Return of Heroes": July 5th
I'll post around the same time tomorrow, so let's see how many reviews I can get in 24 hours!