A/N: I KNOW! I KNOW! It's been a whole month since I last posted a chapter but I've finally completed my courses and I have settled into a new job. I'm excited to be back finishing this story.
Anyway, enjoy Chapter 25.
Chapter 25: Battle on the Golden Gate Bridge Pt. 2
It turned out the little girl left her precious stuffed animal in her mom's minivan as she walked back to the car to get it, despite all the terror and destruction happening around.
Harley was still fighting off many of the Yellowjacket soldiers when Cassie joined in.
The teens managed to hold their own against the soldiers when Harley's sensors picked up something on the bridge.
Harley checked and noticed the little girl was running on the bridge and notified Cassie.
"Cassie, the bridge is not clear. There's a little girl on the bridge." Harley informed Cassie through their coms.
While making alterations to Cassie's suit, Harley had installed tech similar to his Iron Lad suit in Cassie's helmet. She was able to get a close-up view of the bridge and sees the little girl running towards something.
"Oh no." Cassie was a bit frightened. This little girl was all alone, running in the middle of a dangerous war-zone, unaware of what danger could befall her well-being. All Cassie focused on was getting the little girl to safety. She immediately flew down to the bridge.
The little girl had made it back to her mother's minivan, she got in through the passenger side because that and the driver's side door were the only doors she could open with her tiny little hands. She made it to the back and found what she went back for: Her Stuffed Rabbit Toy.
Suddenly, the little girl was startled and terrified by the sound and sight of several parked cars on the bridge attacked and destroyed by the Yellowjacket Army. She took cover underneath the backseat.
Cassie tried making it to the minivan but several Yellowjacket soldiers fired their blasters at her. She dodged them by shrinking back to ant-size and then launching a surprise attack by returning to normal-size. Cassie held her own against the soldiers. Hope had showed her various near-deadly attacks she could use and put them to good use despite the Yellowjacket suits being mostly titanium. Cassie knew the soldiers wouldn't go down easy and she knew killing was not the way to go, so she had to settle by crippling them.
After breaking a few soldiers' arms and legs, Cassie finally made it to the minivan. When she opened the side door, Cassie found the little girl hiding underneath the backseat.
The little girl seemed scared of Cassie. It was probably because the helmet.
"Hey it's ok. It's ok. I'm a good guy. You're ok." Cassie assured the little girl as much as she could but the little girl refused to leave the safety of the minivan.
"Ok, maybe this should help." Cassie removed her helmet to reveal her face to the little girl, who began to feel safe enough to step out from under the backseat. "See. You can trust me. I'm good."
Cassie continued assuring the girl when she noticed the little rabbit doll the little girl had risked her life to get back. It looked like the very same ugly rabbit doll her father had given her as a birthday present when he got out of jail years ago. She still had it and after her mother and stepfather's deaths and the destruction of her childhood home, it was one of the few of her belongings that was not damaged.
"C'mon, let's get you out of here and back to your family." Cassie gave the girl her hand and the little girl walked towards her and proceeded to step out of the van.
Several soldiers started firing around Cassie and the little girl, which terrified the little girl enough to stay in the van. Cassie wasn't having anymore of this.
"Harley, I could really use a distraction here." Cassie asked through her com.
Harley, meanwhile, was already distracting a good fraction of the Yellowjacket Army and leading them as far away from the bridge as possible. They fired as many blasts as they could but Harley's suit was able to analyze their weapons usage and managed to remain one step ahead. When Cassie called for his assistance on the bridge, he tried to keep the army chasing him at bay but remembering the little girl, he couldn't deny there was danger he couldn't not try to stop. He then set off flares that kept the Yellowjacket soldiers at bay.
"Alright, I'm on my way." Harley answered Cassie through his com as he flew back towards the bridge, ready to assist Cassie.
Back on the bridge, Cassie tried to re-convince the girl to come with her. "Okay, my friend's coming and he's going to help us. Please you have to come with me." Cassie pleaded until she tried one more way to convince her.
"Uh, what's your name?" Cassie asked the little girl, who was silent for a few seconds until she answered.
"Jessica." The little girl had a name and Cassie felt compelled to share with Jessica hers'.
"Jessica, such a pretty name. My name's Cassie. Now let's say we get you off this bridge." Cassie held her hand out to Jessica and Jessica finally felt safe enough to step out of the minivan and Cassie proceeded to carry Jessica and her stuffed rabbit out of the van and hopefully, off the bridge to safety.
With Jessica in the safety of her arms, Cassie put her helmet back on and began hovering around the parked cars on the bridge. Cassie would've flown a little higher but she didn't want to risk the little girl's safety.
A few Yellowjacket soldiers began firing again at Cassie. Jessica's grip on the back of Cassie's neck tightened as she was terrified and sniffling in fear.
"It's okay. Just close your eyes. You don't have to see any of this." Cassie tried quelling the little girl's fear as they were nearing closer off the bridge.
Cassie continued to dodge the soldiers' blasts. She turned around to face them as she didn't want Jessica to see who was attacking them.
Suddenly, a blast of light dropped on the soldiers as Harley finally made it to the bridge and allowed Cassie to get little Jessica off the bridge to safety.
Cassie finally got Jessica off the bridge as they faced a group of people who were watching the chaos. Cassie then asked the crowd if Jessica's mother or father were around. Jessica's mother, with her two other children in hand, wasted no time rushing to take her daughter in her arms again as Cassie handed Jessica back to her distraught mother.
Jessica's mother and siblings were incredibly gracious that Jessica had safely made it off the bridge. Cassie looked at the reunion in awe. She realized that, even though, she lost her own mother, she could make sure Jessica wouldn't lose hers and vice versa.
"Thank You So Much." Jessica's mother looked at Cassie, emotionally shaken but graceful.
Cassie noticed Jessica dropped her stuffed rabbit when reunited with her mother. She picked it up and handed it back to Jessica. "Here. You definitely don't wanna lose this one. You're probably the bravest kid I met."
Cassie then flew off to join back in the fight as the crowd applauded.
Back at Cross' mansion, Hank and Janet continued to hold their own against the soldiers in the hangar.
Ava, meanwhile, was finally beating the shit out of William and William found out how much he underestimated her. He tried ordering a few of the soldiers to help him but even they were no match for her as she was able to phase through the men and…rip their hearts (or lack of) out of their bodies.
Bill continued to keep Scott/Darren alive as much as he could until Hope, Cassie and Harley arrived back at the mansion with Darren/Scott.
Back on Baker Beach, Hope kept fighting Darren/Scott as she seemed unable to go on anymore.
Darren/Scott was too strong. Darren's ruthlessness, mixed with his sadistic nature, made him a deadly fighter in Scott's body.
"Oh Hope. I thought you were a better fighter than this?" Darren/Scott insulted Hope as she was beginning to feel out of breath.
"Trust me, I still am." Hope was breathless but determined to put him down.
Hope gathered what little strength she had left and continued to throw more punches at the man who was controlling the love of her life.
Darren/Scott continued to dodge Hope's tired punches and managed to land a knockout on his former business partner/lover. Hope finally gave in and went down in defeat.
"Hope. I guess you and Scotty are willing to die for the other." Darren/Scott gloated. "Don't worry, the two of you will join each other soon…and after William and I finish off the rest of your family and friends, we're gonna take Cassie and send her to the worst possible place on Earth and make sure she spends her days forgetting her past life…as she's being raped over and over again."
What Darren/Scott didn't realize but soon found out was Cassie was right behind him, having flown down to the beach after seeing Hope in trouble.
"I knew you were a freak then." Cassie remarked as she knocked Darren/Scott out by surprise. "But now I know you have serious issues."
Cassie then looked for the Particle vials on her father's suit and proceeded to pull out the Goliath particles and threw them at some stones.
Suddenly, the remaining Yellowjacket soldiers around the bridge and the ones back at the Cross mansion found themselves powerless.
Hank, Janet, Ava and William all witnessed the soldiers becoming powerless. Not only did it shut down the Yellowjacket suits, but the inside of the suits had been aligned with a deathly aroma that would kill them instantly. No traitors. No survivors.
Hank radioed Hope through their coms. "Hope, are you there?"
"This is Cassie. Hope's down but we got the vials out of my dad's suit." Cassie messaged Hank through her com.
"Alright, all of you get back here as soon as possible." Hank replied.
"We will." Cassie replied to Hank.
Harley had landed on the beach and he and Cassie rushed to each other and embraced. "Oh My God, you guys are alright." Harley said to Cassie.
"Well obviously." Cassie jokingly remarked.
Harley looked at Darren/Scott and Hope on the ground and asked Cassie who was going to carry who back to the mansion.
"I'll take Hope." Cassie said as she walked to Hope, kneeled down and pressed the buttons on Hope's suit, shrinking her down. Cassie put Hope in her pocket and Harley carried Darren/Scott off the beach and the two proceeded to fly back to the mansion.
At the mansion, Hank, Janet and Ava were stunned by the sight of the many dead Yellowjacket soldiers that they failed to notice William had escaped.
"Shit. He's gone." Ava was flustered.
"He won't get far." Janet put her hand on Ava's shoulder, trying to make her feel a bit better.
Ava seemed unsure. Not because William took off but because Janet wasn't like the others after they found out what her intentions were six years ago.
"I'm not sure I deserve your pity?" Ava remarked to Janet.
"If you stayed and helped us get to Scott and Cassie, then that's more than enough for us to forget what happened." Hank said to Ava, who felt a lot better now.
Hard Part's Over. Honestly, this might have been the hardest chapter to write, action-wise. But I hope you all enjoyed it and thanks for waiting patiently.
Now all they got to do is put Scott's mind back in his body. Will Cassie and Harley get back to the mansion in time? Where's William? Do you think he has one more deadly trick up his sleeve?
Stay Tuned for Chapter 26!