Minutes after Will arrived at the Tower Prime, the patrons and clubgoers all cheered. They had known that thanks to their combined efforts, the terrorist Caleb Stern was now incapacitated beyond recovery and they were only inches away from victory over their southern neighbors. And now their leader had arrived to lead in the celebrations and give the rewards well deserved.
"Caleb Stern is dead, citizens!" Will shouted. "Libations are on me!"
The patrons cheered even louder as Will walked up to Kurnip himself and presented him his reward.
"For you, Kurnip." Will said presenting a large bag of money. "Your deeds have served well and you shall be given what has been rightfully earned."
"Yes. Yes." Kurnip said happily. "Thank you, my liege."
Will just smiled as he poured the money to the ground and doused it in kerosene. Kurnip's smile then faded.
"What…What are you doing?" Kurnip asked.
"I said you would be getting your money." Will said lighting a match. "I didn't say how, nor did I say you would get it while you were still alive."
Will then dropped the lit match on the pile, causing the money to burst in flames.
"No!" Kurnip said dropping to the ground and trying to put out the flames.
Immediately, two Grand Army soldiers came up and placed their hands on his ankles. They then pulled his legs off, revealing them to be a pair of metal prosthetics. Unable to get up, he could only watch in horror as Will approached him.
"Why…?" Kurnip said.
"You were only good for my intended purpose." Will said. "Being a cripple, you would only be a hindrance in my utopia. But don't worry, like all cripples before you, the prisoners will unknowingly enjoy the taste of your flesh."
Will then raised his heel and with one large stomp, smashed the poor man's head into the ground, shattering his skull and instantly killing him. Everyone just stared in horror as Will walked away from the body and towards the entrance. Theo understandably looked the most mortified.
"Why?" Theo asked. "He begged for your help when he most needed it."
"He outlived his usefulness." Will said with no remorse. "You will too unless you stay by my side and gather the armies. Is that clear?"
"Yes, my liege." Theo said reluctantly. Will then turned to the crowd.
"The hour of reckoning is upon us!" He shouted. "After sundown, the skies will be lit with the bonfire made of the bodies of South Paris."
Will and Theo then walked out and took their shuttle back to the Artemis.
Back on the ship, Isaac and Olivia were still being held on the main bridge. They could only stay and think of how they could get out and free Caleb. Olivia shifted her eyes to see that Isaac was pulling out a small penknife from his pocket.
"Isaac, what are you doing?" Olivia asked.
"Shhh." Isaac said. "Do you trust me?"
"I don't under…"
"Do you trust me?" Isaac interrupted.
"Yes." Olivia said.
"Then DUCK!" Isaac shouted pressing a switch on the knife's pommel, causing the knife to shoot out, cutting their restraints and freeing them, and bounce around the bridge, making enough of a commotion to distract the guards, allowing Isaac and Olivia to escape through the door behind them.
"Sir, the prisoners have escaped." One of the officers said to Mackie.
"Tell your troops to surround all sectors from maintenance to prison hold." Mackie said.
"Yes sir." The officer said.
As the alarms sounded, Isaac and Olivia just bolted across the ship, heading to the prison hold. As they passed through rooms with lots of machinery, they noticed soldiers lined across and firing at them.
"Get behind me!" Isaac shouted.
Olivia did just that as Isaac drew his staff and unsheathed the large knife inside. Isaac then charged forward as he plowed and sliced through each opposing soldier. As they ran out of the room, Isaac jabbed his staff into the door controls, closing the door and sealing the soldiers out.
As they stopped to catch their breath, they looked and saw the next room they were in: An immense hollow chamber, the size of a football stadium, with a large suspension bridge standing several meters over a large, inactive turbine. As they looked around, they noticed that nearly a hundred Grand Army soldiers were lined alongside the domed walls of the chamber, guns pointed at them.
"Well, well, well." They heard a voice say. They turned and saw a familiar face that they hadn't come across in a long time.
"Hannibal?" Olivia said. "Where have you been?"
"After my nephew became Supreme Leader and dissolved my brother's inner circle in favor of the Provincial Guard, I was left to fend on my own." Hannibal said. "So I figured I would redeem myself by taking down young William when his guard is down and invade South Paris on my own terms."
"You hate Will as much as we do and yet you still want to destroy South Paris?" Olivia asked. "What have you to gain from this?"
"Foolish wench, I have no desire to destroy South Paris." Hannibal said. "I intend to unite the two cities under my rule."
"What do you mean?" Isaac said.
"Unlike Will who wants South Paris destroyed so that he can start anew, I simply want to give the savages of your land a new chance to thrive." Hannibal said. "I will impose my late father's doctrine of expansion and unity over these people and make Paris whole again, just as my father did for France and just as my brother did for all of Europe those many years ago."
"You're mad." Isaac said.
"The lesser of two mads." Hannibal said.
"Madness is madness." Olivia said. "South Paris will never bow to outside rule!"
"Allow me to show you the way out!" Isaac said charging across the bridge toward his adversary.
Hannibal just smiled as he drew his cane and shot a large laser beam towards Isaac. Isaac immediately flung himself to the ground, dodging the beam.
"Finish them all!" Hannibal called to the soldiers. The soldiers immediately began firing at the helpless Isaac and Olivia.
Isaac just drew his staff and began deflecting all the bullets headed his way. With a series of flips and maneuvers, he managed to avoid and stop all the bullets headed his way, with even enough accuracy to send some back to the heads of the soldiers that fired them.
After a momentary ceasefire, Isaac stopped to catch his breath. Immediately, Hannibal charged forward and pinned Isaac down with his cane, his head handing off the side of the bridge.
"You honestly think you had any chance of stopping our superior firepower? All you did was buy yourself time." Hannibal said. "Any words to say before you're grounded into a bloody pulp?"
"Wrong end, mate." Isaac said.
"Huh?" Hannibal said. He then looked down and saw that he was holding his cane so that the curved end was right in front of Isaac. Hannibal watched in horror as Isaac reached for the trigger and pulled, sending a large blast towards Hannibal and blowing off a chunk of his face.
Hannibal just screamed in pain as he fell to the ground, clutching his face. Isaac then got up, grabbed Olivia and made their way to the other side of the bridge, but not before Isaac hit the main switch beside the door.
Meanwhile, on the bridge, Mackie saw a warning flash on the screen. He turned and saw that the main turbine had been activated; he then turned to the surveillance screen showing Hannibal and the soldiers in the turbine room. Hannibal and the soldiers just screamed and banged on the locked doors as the turbine started up, but it was too late. After only a few seconds, the turbine generated enough force to grab Hannibal and company in its suction and pull them in where they were shredded in a bloody mess. Mackie just grimaced in anguish as the camera was coated in blood and pureed gore.
"Sir?" One of the officers said. Mackie then snapped out of it.
"Yes?"
"I said what's our next plan of attack?" The officer said.
Mackie just looked at the onboard map surveillance system and saw where the escapees were.
"They've reached the laboratory; one room away from the prison hold." Mackie said. "Send what remaining reinforcements we have over there."
"Sir, the entire ship is on lockdown after the activation of the turbine." The officer said. "We can't override without the liege's access codes."
"Do we still have the medical professionals on deck?" Mackie asked.
"Yes, but…"
"Tell them to grab what weapons they can find and hold them off." Mackie said.
"But sir…"
"Do it!"
"Yes sir." The officer said as he went to make the call.
Meanwhile, Olivia and Isaac, catching their breath after escaping one of the regime's top leaders, looked and found themselves inside an immense laboratory. The same one that Olivia came across during her last mission.
"Where are we now?" Isaac asked.
"I've been here before." Olivia said. "The prison hold is just down the hall."
"You sure about this?"
Olivia said nothing. She just made her way to the other side of the lab and opened the door. Once inside, Isaac stared in awe at the immense prison and the clamoring prisoners inside.
"How are we supposed to find Caleb in all of this?" Isaac asked.
"Look." Olivia said pointing to the floor. She and Isaac noticed a trail of blood that went straight through the center of the floor and then curved towards a nearby cell. Olivia placed her finger in the trail.
"It's still wet." Olivia said. "Whoever was taken here was taken relatively recently."
"You think that's where we'll find Caleb?"
"Only one way to find out." Olivia said.
The pair then followed the trail of blood to the cell. After hacking open the cell door, Isaac ran inside and saw a near-lifeless body lying on the floor.
"It's Caleb!" Isaac said running up to him. He just picked him up and felt his pulse.
"He's still alive." Isaac said. "We got to get him out of here now."
"We're several hundred meters above the city." Olivia said. "How are we supposed to get out of here?"
" Will mentioned having a shuttle aboard the ship." Isaac said. "Surely a ship of this size would have more than one means of escape."
"Then let's grab Caleb and start looking." Olivia said.
Isaac did as he was told as he grabbed his friend and ran out. As they made their way out the cell, Caleb quietly drew a knife and tossed it into one of the adjacent cells. The prisoner inside just scrambled toward the glistening object and looked at it with slight confusion.
After making their way out, they paused when they found themselves face to face with a dozen of the medical staff wielding weapons of their own.
"Make my day, you cunts." Isaac said quietly, drawing his staff. He then proceeded to jump about and take out the adversaries.
"Get Caleb to safety!" Isaac said to Olivia. "I'll take it from here."
Olivia just nodded as she took Caleb into a nearby room. From inside, she could see Isaac struggling to keep the officials at bay. Isaac jumped about and deflected each and every blast coming his way, but the staff had power in numbers. Isaac had no choice but to go on the defense as he slowly moved backwards towards the room that Olivia and Caleb were sheltered behind. Isaac jumped in, closed the door and barred it shut with his staff.
"Now what?" Isaac asked.
"Umm, Isaac." Olivia said. "You might wanna see this."
Isaac turned and couldn't believe what he saw: A gigantic cylinder sitting in the center of the room with several thick cables jotting out of it and crawling along the walls. It looked like one of Lyoko's scanners back at the factory, only this one was much taller and wider. Almost as if it were meant for more than one person.
"Well, this is convenient." Isaac said dryly.
"What is this crazy guy up to?" Olivia asked herself.
"Either way, it looks like we found our means of escape." Isaac said.
"How are we supposed to know where it'll lead?" Olivia asked. "We could be stuck in some white void for all we know."
"Will said he knew about Lyoko." Isaac said. "He wouldn't activate this knowing it wouldn't lead there in some way. Besides, what other options do we have?"
"You're right." Oliva said as she activated the scanning procedure. "Let's pray he was the genius he claims to be."
Isaac just nodded and he stepped inside with Olivia and Caleb. The scanner door then closed and within a few seconds they were enveloped by a blinding white light, they just closed their eyes and expected the worst.
Please Review.