He tripped for the third time, and cried out in panic.
Hearing the wretched laughter behind him Ghost scrambled to his feet, feeling his way around in the dark as he kept running in the general direction of the executive offices. There were soldiers there, heavily armed and numerous…they would save him…
He heard gunshots behind him and felt bullets flying past his head and he screamed involuntarily. The Beast behind him fired three more times at the ground near his feet, and he saw sparks fly. Pointing his gun behind him as he ran, he returned fire without aiming, for all the good it would do. The monster wasn't even slowed or slightly put off by his weapon's fire. If anything, it just amused her as she would laugh and taunt him each time he dared put up a weak defense.
"I'm over here! Why don't you turn around and aim!"
He suddenly heard her footsteps increase dramatically, as if her run speed had just increased two fold. Fear ripped through him as the sound of those footsteps in the dark reached him in just two seconds. He felt strong hands grab the shirt at his back and lift him off the ground. He was then swung around and hurled into a wall fifty feet away, the impact popping his shoulder out of joint. Trying to ignore the pain he scrambled once again to his feet, picking up his gun, and screamed in terrified rage as he pulled the trigger over and over, the flash of his gun blinding in the total darkness. With each flash that lit up the hallway, he saw her standing there, a cruel open mouthed smile on her face. With the forth and fifth flash, he could see her aiming her own pistol at him. He turned to run as she opened fire upon him, laughing wildly. He felt a bullet pierce his calf and screamed as he collapsed to the ground.
The Beast made a mocking sound of sympathy, followed by the sound of her reloading the gun. She walked towards him and he scrambled away from her.
"Come here…" she said in that mocking sympathetic tone, "I'll make it better…I'll make it all stop."
"NO! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME! PLEASE…"
"OH PLEASE SOMEBODY HELP!" she screamed amidst bouts of laughter, her voice carrying louder than his own, "SOMEONE HELP THIS MAN! HE'S GOING TO DIE! HEEEELLLPPPPP!"
He raised his gun to fire once again but heard the dreaded click. He had known that his bullets were ineffective against her, but shooting back had made him feel at least somewhat in control of his fate. Now he was out of ammo…and his helplessness could no longer be denied. He felt her kneel over him and grab his hair with one hand. He tried to peel her hands off of him but she slapped his hands away.
"sshhh….sshhhhh…stop fighting."
"NO! NO! JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!"
"You're so loud…I always make my men loud. It's how I know they like me."
He felt something like knives slicing into his back, even though her hands were busy holding him up. He screamed in pain as he felt warm blood crawl down his back.
"That's it…tell me you like it…"
"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU! YOU FUCKING BITCH!"
He heard her moan in pleasure as her breath became husky, those phantom knives digging deeper into his back. Then her own hands were there, finding their way to the wounds, and pushing inside his skin. His renewed screams filled the hallway as he tried to lift his arms to fight her off but found he couldn't move them. She was holding him down with her vectors. Just when he thought he was going to pass out from the agony, she abruptly stopped, and roughly lifted him back up by his shirt.
"That was fun…run some more. I want to do it again…"
He felt himself flung through the air, this time at least a hundred feet away, and landed on his wounded back, tearing another cry of pain from him. He couldn't believe it, she had released him, and they were nearly at the position of his squad. He felt renewed confidence in knowing that once he reached them, she would come around the corner and be decimated by an entire squadron of elite troops. With that thought fueling him, he rose to his feet and continued to run, tripping once again as he heard more gunfire behind him and tried to keep his head down. His pulse was racing as he tried with all his might to stay ahead of her, fumbling around in the dark.
Suddenly, the red emergency lights came on, illuminating his pathway. He picked up speed now that he knew where he was going and looked behind him to see how far away the monster was. The sight he was greeted with almost paralyzed him with horror. She was running…
…along the wall.
She kicked off from the wall and shot towards him like a missile, spinning in midair to land a powerful kick at his chest, sending him flying. Hitting the ground, he rolled for a few feet before coming to a stop. As he looked up, the sight before him almost made him cry out in relief. His men were there, set up in formation awaiting his arrival to escort the last director from the facility. They appeared to be having trouble with a bulkhead door that had apparently shut during the lockdown. With the power cut, the door control for it would be offline necessitating a manual override, which was obviously taking time. He fell down once as he scrambled to his feet, but quickly recovered and ran for the relative safety of his men.
"Sir? What the hell?"
"She's right behind me! Kill her! Kill her!"
"Who is?" a cultured, feminine voice with a French accent answered from somewhere in front of him. Stepping away from a cluster of men was Director Celine Lacroix, "just what is going on here sergeant?"
"Get that fucking door open!" Ghost screamed, ignoring Director Lacroix. He shoved one of the soldiers out of the way as he knelt down to attempt to work the manual override. He didn't really know how to work that door, but terror had emptied his mind of all reason.
"Sergeant Rin I demand you compose yourself right now and report! What is going on?"
"Fuck!" he yelled out, standing back up. He pointed at the soldier he knocked down, "fix that fucking door!"
"SERGEANT RIN!" Director Lacroix screamed, and then slapped him. He felt a wild urge to beat her to a bloody pulp, or pull his gun on her, but the sight of her state of dress made him instinctively associate her with authority and his superior. Duty was always his first priority, and it was easy to understand. It jarred him into a calmer state, although his heart still beat wildly with fear.
"Director," he said shakily, "one of the Diclonius are loose. It's been stalking me down here, she's…"
"…oh god," he heard her whisper, as she put a hand over her mouth, "…it's her."
Ghost turned around and saw the Beast standing there in the hallway, every gun trained on her. Even in the dark red light, with her hair flung in front of her face, he could see the monstrous smile; her teeth showing and something wild in her eyes.
"Number 5?" Director Lacroix said out loud to her, "how…did you escape? You know Erich will be very displeased with you."
"Don't you dare say his name bitch. He belongs to me. He was mine first."
What…the fuck was this monster on? What the hell was Director Vanith doing with this one? Ghost took the moment to reload his pistol. He was going to need it.
Celine started laughing, and Ghost wanted to choke her into silence. She thought she was safe hiding behind a platoon of men. Honestly, Ghost had expected to feel safe as well, but the way the Beast stood and handled herself; the way she smiled and the easy confidence her manner exuded…he had a horrible feeling that none of them were safe.
"You're being silly Number 5. He is your handler and you should show more respect than that. Haven't you been taught better? What Erich and I do is none of your concern. You should surrender now or these men will have to put you down. You don't want that. I don't want that. You're very important to our cause Number 5. There are rewards in it for you should you continue to cooperate."
The monster clenched her fists and a look of unbridled rage filled her eyes.
"Stop calling me that…"
"Oh? He never told me your name. It must not have been important."
Why wouldn't this bitch shut up? Ghost placed himself in front of Director Lacroix but she pushed him aside. Un fucking believable. This chick was having a pissing contest with THAT monster? He once again saw the phantom muscles on the Beast coil and tighten. Ghost raised his gun, and the movement prompted the soldiers to chamber their rounds, preparing to fire.
The Beast smiled, "he named me Angel…it was my name first. And I want it back."
A look of sick horror crossed Celine's face, Ghost didn't understand.
"I'm coming for you Celine…you should have listened to Erich…"
"Kill her!" Ghost screamed.
Angel set her feet, and launched into a full run towards the soldiers, screaming in bestial fury as they opened fire upon her. Ghost expected to see her vectors fly out to defend herself, but she instead leapt to the wall with blinding speed, dodging the bullets. She then kicked off to the other side of the wall with enough speed and force to allow her to run along its side for a few steps, enabling her to dodge another hail of bullets. He then saw her vectors fly out to push against the ceiling, making her body fly towards the ground in a tumbling roll, dodging another stream of fire. Ghost couldn't believe her speed and skill. She was a mere five paces from the first man in the squad.
"Fucking stop her!"
Coming to her feet, Angel ripped the pistol from her waist and fired twice into the face of the first man to aim their weapon at her, spraying his brain matter on nearby soldiers. She closed the distance and ran among them, dropping her pistol and beginning to disarm nearby soldiers with lightening fast movements. She seemed to have eyes in the back of her head; her every economical move having a purpose. Two men at her back raised their pistols to her head, but Angel jumped and kicked off the body of a man in front of her, carrying her behind the two men who had their pistols aimed. When they fired, they accidentally killed the man in front. Angel aimed a punch at the spine of one man, cracking it, and lifted the other, using him as a battering ram to slam against a group of men, kicking the gun from the hands of a man to her side as she released the body of the thrown soldier.
As three soldiers aimed their assault rifles, Angel yanked the closest man within her reach and placed him in front of her, letting him take the rain of bullets as she jumped once to land on his shoulders, and jumped again, spinning in midair as she caught the machine gun she'd kicked into the air. Her vectors shot out to either side of the wall, holding her aloft, as she mowed down the three armed soldiers until the weapon ran out of ammo. Ghost almost laughed at the irony of the armor piercing bullets meant for the Diclonius being used to shred through his own men's body armor...by a Diclonius. How the hell did she know how to use guns?
Ghost aimed at her and began firing wildly, but she had seen him and dropped to the ground among the remaining squad members. Realizing guns were not working, Ghost Squad began going for their combat knives and closed in on her. Ghost looked over at Director Lacroix who had her hands in her hair, a look of disbelief and horror in her face as she watched Angel fight.
Men with knives closed in on her and the first one thrust his arm out. Angel ducked under it and lifted her hands to slam them down on his elbow, breaking it as she kicked the knee out from another man, making his lunge falter. She grabbed his shoulder and used him as leverage to run up the side of the wall and kick off to a soldier on the other side of the hallway, grabbing his neck and swinging around, breaking it, and retrieving his knife before it fell from his hand, using it immediately to block a flurry of knife swings from new attackers.
Ghost entered the fray, aiming his gun to fire upon her, but she seemed to notice him from her peripheral vision, collapsing to the ground with feline grace to dodge the first bullet, then leaping into the air in a twirling spin as he fired at the ground. In the midst of her spin, she threw the knife at him where it lodged in his shoulder. Hitting the ground she backhanded the gun out of his hand and punched him hard in the chest where he wore body armor. From the look on her face and how far she reared her arm back, he knew he had been hit with her full strength. It had felt like he took a shotgun blast at point blank range as he was carried through the air, slamming against the bulkhead. Director Lacroix screamed as Ghost slumped to the ground, too wounded and stunned to keep fighting. Judging from the pain in his chest, he knew his ribs were broken.
"COME ON!" Angel screamed with an animalistic fury, using her vectors to carry two knives towards her, readying herself for a new attack upon the survivors. Ghost saw those phantom muscles coil once again, the only warning before the assault.
Once again, she ran with full speed towards the remaining soldiers where flashing blades were all Ghost could see. She swung and thrust, darting and leaping over soldiers, moving faster than his eye could follow as she killed again and again, drawing blood with each thrust and screams with every slash. One man actually managed to grab her arm and from her sudden wicked smile, he knew she had wanted him to. Ghost wanted to cry out a warning but it was too late. The man who grabbed her tried to stab her chest but she swung her arm out to push his knife arm into his own stomach, under the armor, grabbing with both her arms and ripping up, disemboweling him. Moving her head slightly, she dodged a knife lunge meant for her face, and leapt into the air, drawing her attacker's pistol from his holster as she rose into the air, then kicked him back against the wall, emptying the weapon into his face as she landed, then letting it fall to the floor.
Ghost couldn't believe what he was witnessing. There were only five men left…Angel was decimating Ghost Squad…his squad…killing every one of them as easily as breathing. One of them fell to his knees to beg for mercy, and she promptly slit his throat, kicking him aside like he was trash to her. Four left now…
Ghost looked at her in the hell born red light and could see her covered in blood from head to toe, licking it off her lips, but her hands were completely dry…she was somehow using her vectors to shake the blood away so her grip would remain solid on her combat knives. Even in the red light he could distinguish the gore on her shirt and arms, and where it made her hair heavy with it. She looked worse than a monster, she was the Devil herself…a raging demon…
"Runnn!" Ghost screamed to his men, "get out of here!"
"No," Angel whispered, death in her eyes, violence in her sickening smile, "no escape…"
She rushed for the final time, two vectors ripping the armor off two men, then slashing wide with her knives and slitting the guts of the men with a single swing. Only one man tried to fight back with a lunge of his knife which she stopped by stabbing both of hers into his forearms and ripping the blades up his arm to the shoulder, kicking him away as he screamed, trying to staunch the blood pouring like a river out of his arm which had been practically filleted from the bone. The last survivor backed up to the wall, dropping his knife. Ghost could see that the man had wet himself…he honestly didn't blame him.
"Please…" he cried out, trembling violently.
"I love it when they beg for it…beg more…tell me how much you want it!"
She stabbed him in the stomach and he screamed
"PLLLEEASSSEEEEE!"
Angel hooked a leg around him and forced his hand between her legs as she twisted the knife. He screamed in agony, and she screamed in rapture.
"OH GODDDDDD!" the soldier cried out in terror. Angel laughed wildly as she jerked against him…seeming to climax as she ripped the knife the rest of the way up his body, disemboweling him and letting his innards spill against her as he fell to the floor dead.
They were all dead…
Ghost Squad was gone…
Dead and bloody on the ground. Gore covered the floor, walls, and ceiling. It was like a scene from hell…
…a scene from his childhood.
Katsuo cowered in the corner, trembling from pain and fear as he watched Angel survey the carnage all around her. The distant alarm was still going off, but there were no sounds of soldiers coming. No one to help him. Even if reinforcements had shown up now, Katsuo doubted that they would make any difference. Angel would just kill them too. She would kill and kill and kill and kill and kill and kill…
"Oh Erich…" Angel whispered, "I wish you could see this."
She then turned to Katsuo and smiled, slowly walking towards him. His heart beat frantically in his chest and he tried to draw himself further into the corner, small wails of panic issuing from his throat with each breath. She straddled him when she got close and put her ear to his lips.
"Theeeerrree you go…just let it out…"
"p…ple…."
"sshhh, don't say it. I already know what's on your mind. I told you didn't I? You break so easily. I really must thank you for leading me to Celine. I heard you on your radio you know. I knew if I scared you enough, you'd run for safety…towards your little gathering here. Towards the directors…towards her."
He didn't care. There was no room in his mind for shame or anger. All he knew was that he didn't want to die. Angel stood up and he was sure this was it. She was going to kill him. Instead, she turned towards Director Lacroix, who was cowering in the corner on the other side of the bulkhead door. Angel tossed one of her knives away, but held the other with a firm and steady grip as she slowly approached Celine.
"Where…is…Erich?" Angel said, her raspy voice cold as ice.
"I'll…I'll never tell you! You're a monster! I won't let you hurt him!"
Angel knelt down in front of Celine and guided the knife inside of her skirt as she panted with terror. Angel began to cut the fabric up until she had completely cut Celine's clothes off, then proceeded to cut away her bra and panties.
"S…stop!"
"Where is he, bitch?"
"I…can't…I won't."
"You can…you will."
She raised the knife…then Katsuo buried his face in his hands. He didn't want to see, wouldn't let himself look. All he could hear now were sounds of fear and panted cries from Celine.
Suddenly an ear splitting scream wrenched through the air and Katsuo curled up tighter. He thought he heard ripping and sawing sounds; each sound followed by a new scream at a higher pitch. After a few more seconds, the screaming turned into loud ragged crying as Katsuo heard something fleshy slap onto the ground near him. He wouldn't look…wouldn't dare look…
"Tell me where he is…or I'll cut the other one off."
"PLEASE DON'T! PLEASE DON'T!"
"Fucking tell me! Right now!"
Another horrifying scream, occasionally interrupted as if someone were jerking Celine with something…he knew it was the knife. He didn't want to know what Angel was doing with it. After some time, the screaming stopped and Katsuo heard the sound of rummaging in clothes; likely Celine feeling around in her clothes for something. Her pain filled cries filled the blood drenched, nightmare hallway.
"I'm sorry Erich…I'm so sorry Erich…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"
"You loved him…didn't you?"
"Yes!"
Silence for a moment. The tension in the air was like laying under the guillotine and wondering when the blade was going to drop. For a long moment there was no sound but Celine's crying, echoing through the empty halls. He then heard a crinkling of paper.
"So…he's here."
"y…yes…"
Daring to part his fingers slightly, Katsuo looked at Angel and saw her staring at a piece of paper. She raised the hand which still held the blood stained knife and touched the writing with two fingers.
"Y…you…you do don't you?" he heard Celine whisper painfully. Angel's face contorted into something like rage…but…it was different.
"You…lov…"
Angel swung her arm in a wide arc and suddenly Celine's cries stopped. There was a heavy thump on the ground…then silence. Katsuo covered his face again as Angel began to stand up. He heard footsteps coming towards him, and then stop.
"Look at you," she whispered in contentment, "you're like a baby out of the womb. Trembling and covered in blood. Weak and helpless…"
"Don't kill me…"
"Ssshhhh…don't worry. You get to survive this. I hope we get to play again…little…man."
He heard her walk away and uncovered his eyes, seeing her pause at the corner to look at him one last time, her face completely painted in shadows. Then she vanished, her echoing footsteps fading into silence.
He didn't know how long he was laying there, but the entire time he was there, all he could think about was how he had run and hid for many days in a nightmare town of blood and murder. He had never gotten used to the fear then, and he couldn't get used to it now. She was right…he was broken. Things like Lucy and Bando were so far from his mind, and at one point, sitting down in a pool of Celine's blood, he had the insane notion that he would actually be glad to see Bando. At least he was an enemy who offered a clean brutality. Even if he had beaten Katsuo, he would have offered a quick death.
Suddenly, the lights came back on, and Katsuo felt blinded by the white light. It seemed the backup generators had finally been activated. The bulkhead door behind him opened automatically…as if to mock him. As his eyes focused, he saw clearly for the first time the carnage before him. The hallway was a lake of blood and bodies, entrails strewn about carelessly, bullet casings peppering the scene. At least two men weren't all the way dead yet, and lay where they'd fallen, bleeding to death. As they lights came on however, it was as though it were a signal that they could finally give up…and did so, breathing their last in the cruel naked light. The man in front of him who had his wrist so savagely cut to the shoulder was dead as well, unseeing eyes fixed in Katsuo's direction, his hand outstretched as if hoping Katsuo would save him.
All dead…all his men dead…and he wouldn't even look at Director Lacroix…Angel had saved the worst for her. He knew it…the screams were still ripping through his mind.
His body screamed in pain. He knew he was shattered, body and mind. All alone in the company of death with no one to save him. There had been no rescue, no hero…just a psychotic killer and a great mass of death. No hope…no mercy. All around him he saw the aftermath of combat in a way he had never known it before. His battles with Ghost Squad had always been rather one sided, or at least closely matched even if it was a sure thing that he and his men would come out on top. The cleanup of the dead and the aftermath were things that never concerned him. He was always the victor, and could calmly walk away from the scenes of death he had often been responsible for.
Not this time…
This time, he was the loser, and he lost so much more than the battle. He felt everything slipping away from him; his pride, his title, his purpose, his strength. Angel had ripped it all away from him so quickly…was it ever real at all? He was broken…
Suddenly he heard a number of footsteps coming towards his direction. He cringed involuntarily. Coming around the corner was Ryota with a handful of troops who stopped cold upon reaching the scene of slaughter. Horror and revulsion filled Ryota's face, but recovering quickly he ordered the men down another hallway.
"I'll handle this, get after her. Don't allow her to escape."
What? They were chasing Angel? No!
"NO!" Katsuo screamed, "don't go after her! She'll kill you…she'll…"
The soldiers paused for a moment, looking at him in disgust…or maybe they were disgusted by the scene before them…he told himself it was the latter. Maybe one day, he'd even believe it. They ran down the hall, leaving Katsuo alone with Ryota who slowly approached him, stepping carefully over dead bodies, and walking in pools of blood.
"Katsuo," he whispered, "my god…what happened here?"
"She…that monster…escaped…killed…all my…" he was crying…Ryota's presence snapped something in him and he felt himself completely revert to that child he once was. Ryota was safety to Katsuo…he was the strong warrior that he had always wanted to be…so that he wouldn't be afraid of monsters anymore. But he had failed, the monsters still ripped away at his soul. And he knew this monster would live forever in his nightmares.
Ryota reached him and knelt down, gathering Katsuo in his arms.
"You'll be alright…Ghost. Only your body is broken…don't let her take your mind."
"I can't help it…I couldn't do anything…I tried Ryota…I fucking tried…she was too…"
"Enough now…"
Katsuo wrapped his arms tightly around Ryota and let go, sobbing into his shoulder.
He tried to draw some strength from his comfort, and perhaps he truly was. He would try to keep his mind…because Ryota asked it of him. His strength would return one day soon, but for now…he was just little Katsuo…surrounded by the dead…Ryota his only savior in an endless night.
Author's note: Due to an injury I sustained in my hand recently, writing is going to take a short backseat while I recover (currently writing this with one hand). shouldnt be longer than a week but with the other things on my plate, the next update will likely be a while in coming. Thank you again for all the encouragement, it means a lot!