"Billy, please! Don't do this!" Mandy pleaded.
Billy looked back at where they came from, and the gunfire became more and more distant in Billy's mind. The thought of leaving them behind while they went back home couldn't pass through his mind. He had made friends back there and it made him feel selfish that he was leaving them behind.
"Mandy, I can't just leave them. Remember that vow we made that we would get each other out alive?"
Mandy nods her head and begins to fear for the worst.
"I must've jumbled up my words or something. I didn't mean I was going to get us out…"
"Billy, please."
"I meant I was going to get you out of here. Even if it meant dying."
"Billy, you're not acting right. Don't be stupid." Said No. 15.
"If anyone's brave or stupid enough to go with me, step up."
Out of nowhere, Marco steps out from the crowd.
"I'm going with you, bro." he says.
"Marco, please don't do this." Amie cried.
"Amie, go and live your life. You're so smart, but all I know was sports. I could never get a real job."
"Marco, please don't go!" Amie began to cry.
"I'll always love you, Amie."
Marco steps up and joins Billy, patting him on the back.
"Anyone else?" Billy asks.
When it felt like nobody else would step out, Mandy steps out.
"If you go, Billy. I'm going."
Billy becomes shocked; the girl he was trying to save was going to seemingly die with him. He began to protest.
"Mandy, no. You're not coming."
Mandy still walked up to the group, ready for battle. Billy instantly grips her shoulders and begins to talk.
"Mandy, I'm doing this for you. Do you just want to throw it away for me?"
"Billy, why are you complaining?" she asks.
"Did I just not tell you or something? I've been busting my ass so you can go out alive. If you go with me and you die, it'll all be in vain."
"Well, I've been busting my ass getting you killed."
Billy began to get irritated.
"Mandy, just go. I just want you to go home and have a nice life, okay?"
Mandy finally gets fed up and burst out.
"I can't have a nice life without you, okay?"
Billy became shocked, as this was one of the only outbursts that she ever had with him ever since they were little. Things began to get real.
"All of this program I've been putting us in situations where if we came back alive it'd be like coming back from the dead! I've been killing all of you; I even killed Nergal, even though it doesn't look like it! All you've been doing is protecting me and keeping me alive and sane. I can never repay you for all of you've been doing, but no one said I could try!"
Mandy's eyes began to brim with tears. Billy's face is a mixture of confusion and shock. He never realized how much she affected her life.
"You've been my driving force. You've always been my best friend and my idol. Now, when I can finally make amends for what I did, is this how I do it, by fighting with you?"
Billy lets his hands free and they drop to his side, his gun dangling from the strap. Billy then takes Mandy in his arms, although she begins to resist. Eventually, she ends up taking the hug and she cries into his shoulder.
"Alright, if that's how much you want to repay me, you can go with us."
Mandy doesn't want to leave his vice, but she eventually lets him go. She wipes the tears away from her cheeks and checks for anyone who wants to go.
"Alright, that's everyone. Let's go." Billy says.
The trio begin to turn around and sprint, but Marco stops them and begins to say something.
"Sarah!" Marco points out.
Sarah steps from the crowd.
"I've always sort of liked you."
Sarah begins to blush. Why would he have a crush on her? He was a jock and she was one of the outcasts.
"And No. 15, keep my sister alright, okay?"
"Okay, will do. And my name is James."
Marco nods his head and catches up with the trio, seeming to run towards their deaths.
…
"We're not going to make it!" One soldier yells.
"Shut your ass, and fight! We'll do it!" Eddy yells back.
The soldiers keep on fighting from the tower, the bravest or the closest ones fighting face to face with the soldiers. Eddy was fighting on the makeshift ridge in front of the building, and he was quickly running out of ammo. He began to resort to single shot fire.
"There's too many of them. We need more soldiers!"
"Well, can you make two of you if I slice you in half? I thought not! Just use your ammo wisely."
Ed was picking them off from close range with his shotgun. He was the most feared from the whole army. Being careful not to get shot from both sides, he quickly shoots in front, each side and back behind him.
"Ed, be careful down there!" Double D shouted down.
"Aw shucks, Double D. I didn't think you would come with us!" Ed shouted back.
"Do I have a choice? Just be careful."
After a while, more soldiers came onto the scene, and all hope seemed lost. Eddy began to use his pistol and that was running out of ammo, and Ed was almost killed with a bullet wound to the shoulder. Morale became low, and Eddy seemed sure he was going to die.
"Guys!" He shouts.
Still fighting, the others listen in.
"It's been a pleasure fighting with you guys."
The others stopped shooting and took cover, some prayed to god, others closed their eyes ready to die.
"HEY! OVER HERE!" a voice says.
The soldiers turn around and notice three kids coming from the escape tunnel. It was Billy Mandy and Marco, who have returned to save them.