Showdown with Rosie Ted
There was a dead silence outside the warehouse yard; as dead as the bodies of the Splicers that perished in the recent siege. The steam pipes however continued to hiss through their cracks as water itself dripped from them. Near one of these damaged pipes was a large crate hanging in the air, suspended on a crane winch as the escaping steam swayed it to and fro.
Cautiously the boy who had survived the carnage crept along the tram lines leading back to the warehouse, forsaking the chance given to flee for his life. Yet having only run a short distance he realised how exposed and vulnerable he was away from the farm and the risk and danger he was in from other Splicers he would surely encounter.
Originally he'd thrown in with Dawson and his lot for mutual protection and what he believed his only chance of surviving. But now alone out on the streets he did what any sheltered child who suddenly found themselves in this predicament did; he turned around and headed back to the only place he felt was safe.
Hopefully he thought the boss would have dealt with the Big Brother himself and it would be safe to return. Possibly he get a clip around the ear or the usual intimidating threat for bailing, but still with almost everyone dead he doubt his boss could spare to be short on hand.
Slowly he kept to the shadows as he neared the warehouse, the sight of his dead would be chums and no sign of the Big Brother, Dawson or any other recent confrontation had him on edge as he had no idea what was waiting for him back there, and then…
"Oh shit!" was what he heard as he then saw Big Brother come running out of the warehouse with the familiar nerve rattling stomping sounds of his boss following him out. Dawson then emerged carrying the huge modified Gatling gun and letting it rip. Hidden in the shadows neither of the two seemed aware of the boy, nor over the noise of gun fire did they hear him cry as a few stray shots from Dawson cut him down.
Thomas meanwhile ran for cover behind the support wall he had hid behind earlier in his attack, narrowly avoiding a hail of bullets that flew at him. He took a moment to catch his breath while holding his gun; barrel face up.
Dawson remained where he stood holding his fire "Come on out from there Thomas, the quicker you do the quicker this will be over," he shouted sternly. The response he got was Thomas leaning out from the corner and firing his own gun; set on five rounds per shot. The standard ammo Thomas fired did little against Ted's armoured hide.
He quickly took cover again as Ted fired another volley, tearing against the concrete wall he realised that his cover wouldn't last long. As he squatted down to avoid any shots blasting their way through in to his back he reloaded his gun and once again heard the voice in his head addressing a certain matter "Why are you still using the standard ammo, it won't stop him?"
"I'm dealing with this," Thomas answered.
"Oh don't tell me your holding back because of your past with this guy?" the voice questioned "In case you haven't noticed the bastard is trying to kill you, you'll be dead if you don't knock off this crap and take him out."
Thomas sighed, agreeing with no argument that he needed to take action. But still he realised the one thing he needed in all this was a strategy for dealing with Ted; which sadly however he had failed to plan for before he made his move against the Splicers. And until he had one he needed to play for time.
"You know Ted…" he called out to him over the gun fire "That gun you got looks awfully familiar?"
"You noticed that?" Ted called back straight after holding his fire "Well it should considering you left it behind in Minerva's Den when you broke out of there."
"You visited the place recently?" Thomas asked while changing his ammo.
"Figured I'd pay you a visit, thought you may be a little more cooperative than your usual difficult self."
"Still after the suit were you?"
"Actually when I first realised the one flaw in my plan that was too literally save my skin; which you so arrogantly pointed out earlier. I decided you'd be the best person for the job to rig the Vita Chamber for me. But alas upon my arrival in Minerva's Den I found you had already fought your way out and all that was left was a room full of bodies and this thing lying on the floor with its ammo depleted.
Later rumours of the so called Big Brother wondered in to my neighbourhood, and somehow I theorised it had to be you.
Of course it wasn't until a few weeks ago while I was moving about outside the city that I saw you with my own eyes flying above through the ocean. I recognised the suit and knew there could only be one person wearing it.
So when word of the fall of the two farms reached me I knew then it was only a matter of time before you showed up here."
The whole time he spoke quietly crept to where Thomas was hiding and moved behind the support wall. To his confusion Thomas had vanished "Fuck!"
The next sound out of Ted was a cry of surprise and alarm as he was struck by explosive rounds, he let go of the Gatling gun which was held by the harness he wore and raised his right arm to shield his head. He quickly turned his body and moved his left arm to cover his head while his right arm struggled to grab and operate the gun. He managed to raise and fire it in the direction of where the gun shots where coming from.
Seeing him do this Thomas then ran for the next cover he could find; which happened to be a large opened crate of stacked railway track rails intended to replace some damaged tram tracks. Ted meanwhile ceased firing as he quickly examined the damage to himself.
The rounds fired had left damage but nothing superficial, some of the armour plating around him was dented or cracked with scorch marks. One piece around his right leg had fallen off leaving only the metal threaded material of the diving suit to cover his burnt flesh. There was no damage to his head or the life support gear on his back; suggesting that Thomas was probably only trying to wound him rather than kill him. Leaving the implication he was still holding back.
Behind the piled railway tracks Thomas's breathing was heavy and strained as he had taken a shot in both his left leg and stomach. Once more the armour plating had stopped the bullets but not prevent any further pain. Had any more shots been on target he may never have made it to cover. He shrugged of the pain and peered around the corner with only a second to see Ted fire another volley at him. The bullets sparked like mad upon contact with the metal tracks as Ted was rifed "You sneaky bastard Thomas."
He kept firing until he was out of rounds and needed to reload, as he expected Thomas took the opportunity and fired every round he had. Again Ted shielded his head with his left arm as Thomas didn't let up this time.
Acting quickly Ted aimed his left hand where Thomas fired from and using the Telekinetic Plasmid within him summoned a number of the railway track rails towards him. Levitating in mid-air and between the two they provided Ted with his own type of cover as he struggled with his right arm to reload the Gatling gun.
This simple task however proved more difficult than he realised with just one hand, and the more he toyed with it the sooner Thomas would catch on and strike. Needing both hands he then projected all rails directly at Thomas with lethal force. Thomas narrowly avoided every rail from impaling him, he attempted to counter but found that Ted's own Telekinetic Plasmid was more powerful than his and any attempt to stop all in mid-air was futile. He broke cover and ran for next one.
Ted watched him flee but had yet to reload the Gatling gun, yet he had more than just it and his Plasmids to fall on. Reaching for his left shoulder and pulled from it a modified shotgun. Its shoulder rest had been sawn off to allow Ted to firmly hold it in one hand; its clip size was adjusted to accommodate a total of eight cartridges. A final modification was its ability to automatically reload itself immediately after each shot.
As was his intention with it he shot at Thomas as he ran across the yard; though his aim as Thomas was aware of was poor. Yet the rounds he fired would explode, releasing small heated pellets that ricochet against his armour but struck between the gaps. A minor inconvenience but one that was as irritating as a wasp's sting.
"Oww! Damn you Ted!" Thomas cried, firing of a few of his own rounds in fury. Ted shielded his head again with his left arm while finally managing to reload the Gatling gun. Armed now with a shotgun in one arm and a Gatling gun in the other was cause for alarm for Thomas. And running for the nearest airlock seemed like the reasonable choice of action.
But there was no chance of him bailing, not because of the girls inside the warehouse, not because he hoped his sister was being held within there. But simply because he felt he needed to settle this matter with Ted.
As he dodged the combo fire he found cover once more behind a disused generator that had been left out in the yard. He took a moment to catch his breath while he replaced his ammo with armour piercing rounds. He then peered around the generator and once more avoided getting his head blown off by Ted.
"My patience is wearing thin Thomas; I got a shit load to clean up from the mess you made. New crew to recruit, not to mention I have targets to meet for you now who. And your fucking refusal to die is making all that impossible!" an aggravated Ted bellowed "Are you listening to me Williams?"
All Ted got for his response was Thomas leaning out from behind the generator and throwing something that spun through the air towards Ted. It struck the shotgun and upon examining it Ted found that it was a four bladed shuriken with one blade end embedded within its barrel.
Doing the most stupid thing he could do to dislodge it he pulled the trigger and the shotgun exploded. He tossed it aside and shook his hand frantically to extinguish the small flames consuming his hand. While he was distracted Thomas fired; impaling five bullets within his arm and chest.
Ted let out an agonised roar as he let rip with the Gatling gun at Thomas, the rounds he fired tore away at the generator permanently putting it out of commission. Suddenly he stopped and Thomas heard an all too familiar sound of something being cocked; that Gatling gun he remembered did more than just fire bullets.
As soon as he heard the grenade fired he broke cover as the generator then blew, Ted fired off four more with the last one igniting a drum of oil that was piled with four crates of wheat or grain. The explosion created a smoke screen that did not last long and as Dawson scanned the yard he spotted lying on the ground Thomas's gun.
Looking around further he saw what he hoped; Thomas on the floor after being knocked down from the explosion. He lay on his chest struggling to pick himself up as his body was partially stunned from the shock of the blast. Before he could stand or even get his head straight Ted quickly moved upon him and had him covered.
There was no chance he could get clear while still on the ground, his gun he realised was nowhere to be seen, Dawson kept well out of reach of his blades. And as for using any of his Plasmids the tube connecting his EVE serum to the vein in his left arm had come loose and he had doubts he had enough already in him to effectively use against Ted.
Dawson had him right where he wanted and it was unlikely he'd be willing to negotiate or hear Thomas reconsider his decision "Stand," he instructed. Thomas rose and stood silent as Ted got closer, never letting up on his aim "Any last words?"
Thomas remained silent, never even showing the slightest bit of physical fear. Ted meanwhile decided not to delay any longer or allow any kind of sentimentality to affect his focus "Then die."
He pulled the trigger and fired at Thomas, never missing a single shot as he relentlessly blasted every round in to him. Every bullet he unleashed found its mark with lethal effect; yet Thomas was still standing. Even with the armour plating he wore it was not possible for anyone to survive this kind of onslaught and yet still he stood without showing any sign of collapse.
Eventually Ted ran out of rounds and glared with confusion and frustration at Thomas's continued defiance of death. He cautiously stepped forward towards him "Why won't you fall?" and shoved the gun barrel in to him. It passed straight through Thomas as though he was not physically there; as though he was just a ghost.
And as Ted realised suddenly what it all meant with two words "Decoy Plasmid!" from out of nowhere the blade sliced off the front of the Gatling gun, reducing it to a piece of junk. And all Ted saw next as Thomas suddenly became visible; hidden by the power of his chameleon Gene Tonic. Was his right fist punching him in right his head.
Ted staggered back, somewhat fazed by the attack that caught him off guard. He soon stopped and saw Thomas turn to face him, his left blade drawn from having been used to disarm him. He watched as Thomas then clenched his right fist and caused the blade in his right gauntlet to unsheathe itself.
Watching him next swing them as means to display his skill and intimidate, Ted only scoffed at the notion as he then unbuckled the harness and let the rest of the Gatling gun fall to his side. He took a few more steps back as he again reached over his shoulder for something else "Alright Thomas, we'll play it your way," and placed in both hands two long steel rods; each with a hook and harpoon tip on the end.
He held each by his side and gently nudged them up and down "I knew if I ever had a showdown with you I'd no doubt have to face your blades, that's why I forged these rods for such an occasion," he swung one hard and then pointed the other; harpoon tip at Thomas "And you'll find that even your blades, no matter how sharp they are won't simply cut through these easily."
"Let's find out Ted," Thomas answered as he took up a defensive stance "Your move."
Ted swung the right steel rod at Thomas's head that he quickly blocked with his left blade; he struggled though at Ted's superior strength. As he had claimed the rods were indeed strong enough to withstand his blades. Ted then swung the left one for Thomas's side; again Thomas blocked it with his right blade, again he struggled against his brute strength as Ted swung once more with the right one.
If not for the suit he wore enhancing his strength, as well as various physical enhancing Gene tonics Ted would have cut straight through him on his first swing. He continued to block and deflect all of Ted's blows, taking the opportunity swing his whole body counter clockwise and deflect Ted's rods with his left blade while trying to score a hit with his right one that followed.
Ted however saw it coming and narrowly avoided having his left arm slashed, though Thomas did cut through the tube that replenished his EVE supply, putting them both at a disadvantage in regards to their Plasmid use. Ted with his anger rising marched forward; thrusting the steel tipped rods at Thomas on each step.
Thomas merely leapt back, far out of Ted's reach as he then halted his advance "Tell me Thomas, how exactly do you intend on finding your sister in a city this huge. Not by dumb luck I'm guessing?"
"I've got a few leads Ted," Responded Thomas while remaining vigil.
"Uh-huh, let me guess, Point Prometheus."
"Right, once I got myself settled after escaping from Minerva's Den the first thing I did was head straight there and break in to the office where the Files on the Little Sisters were kept. I knew once I pulled my sister's I'd know the areas where she was stationed and where to look for her."
"But wait, you've been searching half this city for months looking for her. If you knew where to look exactly you'd have found her within the first week. Something didn't go according to plan did it?" Ted began to smugly pry.
"As always Ted your right," Thomas confirmed with annoyance "There'd been an office fire started by the Splicers, most of the files had been torched and there was very little I could pull from my sister's. At most I could only divulge three places she'd likely be, but no way of knowing when or for how long she'd be there. And one of those three I recently flooded.
But luckily aside from keeping separate files on each girl, they also kept records on the places where Adam was harvested and a list of the girls who operated in them. But still half of those records were destroyed themselves and none of the ones that survived had her listed on them. But still they told me where I need not search; eliminating certain places I was all too eager to stay clear of."
"Too bad this place wasn't one of them," Ted immediately spoke as he then struck in an attempt to catch Thomas off guard.
Thomas however ever on alert was quick to respond. He continued to duel Ted with no possible end in sight. Suddenly Ted managed to hook Thomas's left blade and wedge it within the hook, preventing Thomas from moving his arm as he held the rod firmly still. He then swung the left rod at Thomas and it clashed with his right blade. Rather than swing it again Ted put all his strength in to it and started to push the harpoon tip towards Thomas's helmet.
Thinking fast Thomas nudged his blade a bit and retracted it back in to his left gauntlet. With his arm free he then pulled his right arm away and leapt back further from Ted, Ted however charged at him. Quickly retracting the right blade Thomas then aimed both his arms to the ceiling and fired both grappling hooks, they lifted him off the ground and he swung right over Ted's head, landing far behind him.
Thomas then quickly spun around and drew both blades as he again took up a defensive pose, but he began to realise duelling with Ted was starting to make the blades dull where they had been hitting the steel rods
Ted himself had noticed this when he turned to face him "Loosing the edge Thomas?" he mocked.
"Come a little closer and you'll see it's not just my blades that are sharp."
"Happy to oblige," he shot off once more directly at him, swinging the rods in a rage. Thomas continued to counter with his fencing skills, now and then he would back away continuing to block Ted's blows, and then go on the offence and drive Dawson back.
He narrowly avoided being slashed in his side by leaping as far back as he could out of Ted's reach. Ted again halted as he attempted to make some idle chit-chat.
"You're quite the fighter Thomas."
"I was as you said full of talent," Thomas replied.
"Yet you still blew it with that cute little what's her…"
"Shut up Ted!" Thomas yelled as he broke in to a rage and dived at him. He failed to realise though he had played in to Dawson's hand. As Dawson continued to fend off all of Thomas's strikes, he saw his chance and hooked Thomas's left ankle and yanked him off his feet. Thomas fell hard on to his back and was slightly stunned.
What he did next however from seeing Ted swing the hooks in his hand and thrust the harpoon tips at his gut was not out of quick thinking but reactionary reflex. He fired his grappling hook again and was dragged out of harm's way just as the harpoons struck the ground and became stuck in the concrete floor.
While Ted struggled to free them Thomas quickly got back on his feet and decided there was only way to beat Dawson. After quickly examining his surrounding he thought up a plan and started to concentrate on using his Gene Tonics to manipulate his blades.
As he did Dawson finally pulled the rods free of the floor and glared at Thomas. He drove for him once more as did Thomas. Just a second from colliding with Ted he then leapt as high as he could in to the air just as Ted swung for him and struck. His left blade vibrating strong and glowing hot cut clean through the steel rod, he landed and quickly swung for the left rod and sliced it in to.
Before Ted even knew what had happened, Thomas leapt high in to the air again and performed a spinning kick that sent Dawson lumbering back once more. Furious than even Dawson threw the broken rods away and raised his fists.
"Fight like a man damn you!"
Thomas was all too willing to accept his challenge as he withdrew his blades and battled Ted in a fist fight. Despite Ted's superior strength his boxing skills were kind of amateurish compared to Thomas skill in martial arts, and as he was quicker and lighter he had Ted at a disadvantage.
One that he proved when he scored the first punch directly in to Ted's face. The blow nearly cracked the front porthole in Ted's head and he lashed out with his fists hoping to score a blow for himself. Thomas however was just too skilled for him as he dodged every blow and countered with his own; pummelling Ted as he drove him back.
A martial art style kick then forced him to stagger to his left for a bit before being driven further back by more blows. And as he came to a halt he then realised Thomas had stopped. He cleared his head and glared with contempt at him "I won't go down that easily…" and saw that he had used the last bit of EVE in him to summon his gun in to his hand.
Expecting him to fire at him he instead saw him aim high over his head and fire off a few rounds. Dawson looked up to see what he was shooting at. And it was then that he realised why Thomas had stopped.
Dangling right above him was the huge crate that was suspended in the air by the crane. As the cables that held it were shot away the crate fell loose and all Ted could do as it landed on him was mutter "Oh shit!"
The whole thing broke apart and the contents of it; small railway track lines pinned him down. He struggled hard to free himself by trying to lift one such rail strewn across his chest. However the wait of Thomas's boot pushing down on it and the sight of his gun aimed directly at his head told him otherwise.
He raised the palm of his hand and spoke "Yield Thomas, I yield."
"Glad you see it that way," Thomas spoke with a calm stern tone as he leaned the gun closer to Ted "Now… What were we discussing before you decided to blow my head off?"
"How you've just signed your death warrant with this so called foolish act."
"Oh we're back on him are we?"
"Thomas, reconsider my offer now or get as far away from Rapture as you can. Otherwise he's gonna come after and when he does…" Ted once more warned.
"I've just got two questions Ted; where are the girls and where are those other two farms stationed?"
There was a moment of silence before Ted spoke again "Despite your intelligence, you always were stubborn. And I'm through helping you Thomas; you want to invite trouble for yourself, fine."
After hearing what he wanted, Thomas then stepped away "Don't go anywhere, I've still got a few more questions."
He then made his way towards the warehouse; just a few steps away from the middle loading bay door when Ted suddenly called out to him "Thomas, if you set foot inside there…"
Thomas no response or even looked back; he pressed on and disappeared in to the warehouse.
Had Ted been able to turn his head he'd have shook it in disappointment and expectance "Stupid asshole," he prattled his fingers as he lay back "I need my scotch."
…
Thomas wandered to the far back of the warehouse and stood outside the room where the Little Sisters were held. The door to it had a security lock that he easily override with the device built in to his left gauntlet. He stepped in to the room and without even looking to his right drew his gun on the remaining Splicer who stood cowering in the corner with a shotgun.
"Your whole crew are dead and your boss is lying buried under a ton of steel. I'm giving you five seconds to drop the gun and get the hell out… One."
The Splicer, a woman did not waste a second complying as she took off straight through the door, leaving Thomas alone with the Little Sisters. There were five of them with the youngest being five and the oldest ten, each one had a chain shackled to their ankle. Rather than a bed all they had to sleep on was an empty sack. Each had a bucket which they would regurgitate in to the ADAM they produced.
Thomas noticed blood stains on the floor and walls and even on their dresses; a clear signs of abuse and mistreatment. This type of handling of the girls was no surprise to Thomas as he had encountered similar means at the two previous farms.
"Ted how could you…?" he whispered as he approached the girls. Every one of them cringed in fear as he got close "Easy girls, I'm here to help you." He paused for a moment and sighed in disappointment as he realised neither one was his sister, then suddenly he remembered "Just a minute I thought there were six of you?"
The oldest of the five who sat with her arm draped over the youngest that was couched up close to her spoke "One of the guards beat her badly; she got upset and couldn't make enough ADAM. So Mr Ted took her away," her account left her and the rest trembling at the mention of Ted.
Thomas knew all too well what the outcome for that Little Sister meant, but it raised a worrying question "This girl, what did she look like. I mean did she have brown hair?"
Thomas held his breath, dreading that should his last question be answered with a 'Yes' it would only mean more unease and the grim possibility. But the oldest came through with her answer "Red hair."
Hearing that eased Thomas's worry, but still it was tragic what had befallen the poor girl. Knowing a similar fate would befall the five before him he decided not delay with what he came to do. He then approached the oldest and uncompelled her shackle "Mr Ted or any of his lot won't hurt or scare you anymore; I'm here to take you somewhere safe and away from him."
…
Minutes later Thomas walked out of the warehouse leading the cured Little Sisters; the youngest he carried towards the vent outside the yard. He stopped for a moment however as he looked to where Ted was buried under the railway track rails, and saw that he was missing. But he was not concerned as he knew he was long gone.
Walking over to the vent, he tore of the metal grate placed over the hole to prevent any of the girls that got out escape. He placed the youngest back on her feet and she stood with the five that all looked at him with their eyes all back to normal.
"Okay you know where you need to go?
They all nodded in response and he helped each one climb in to the vent, the oldest taking the time to thank him for his kindness before she disappeared with the rest.
With the girls safe and the farm now out of commission he decided then to see if there was anything he could scavenge. He scoured the whole warehouse and found a substantial amount of food, guns and ammo, and other essentials. His search however also uncovered the body of the sixth Little Sister; left for disposal after having the slug in her removed. Rather than just leave her he decided to put her with the ones from Athens Resort.
After summoning his Bathysphere by remote and sending it back to his place with the supplies he had gathered he then prepared the girl's body for burial. But the whole time this had gone on he had started to think about Ted's warning, and suddenly felt a feeling of dread over the trouble and attention he had stirred up for himself and the inevitable outcome.
"What the fuck have I done?"
Okay, sorry this is a little late, originally when I though this chapter up Ted was supposed to still be human. Thomas after beating his Splicers would have put him on a Bathysphere he had overridden and sent him Tartaros as punishment. Later Thomas would have had to go there himself to retrieve something he had on him. I later decided to feature Tartaros in a seperarate story.
Please comment.