Transformers Infinite

by LuisJM

Due to an unfortunate attack, Sari, Jack, Miko, and Raf all got sucked through a ripped tear and into a sky city called Columbia. Now in order to escape a Prophet and the Vox, they must join forces with a private detective and a mysterious girl. (Transformers/Bioshock Infinite crossover) (LuisJM/FictionFan1024 collab) (Raf/Elizabeth pairing)

12. Of Ghosts and Boxers

Do you know what I hate the most in life? It's that sometimes it throws a big old wrench at you and grind your daily life to a halt. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, is that, and it's at the time of writing this, is that this country, let alone the world is going through with a pandemic. The self proclaimed Coronavius or COVID-19 in it's scientific term, is spreading throughout the globe, starting from China and around the globe in quick succession. Because of this spread, governments around the planet are urging people to remain in their homes in a social distancing, having no groups more then ten people, postponing and canceling sporting events, concerts, and conventions, and crippling business and the economy. This is definitely a trying time for everyone, including me.

Thankfully, I don't have the virus, not yet at least, but this crisis has caused serious problems with my life. See, I was working hard in finding work for me to do. But with this virus going on, I don't think I'll be looking for a job in an office environment and more of a work from home, to which I don't want. I can't go to any social events with Hankering for More down at YAI in New York as certain events have been canceled. And while wrestling is the best distraction I have to do, I can tell they were struggling with their empty arena shows. Now I haven't watched them yet as I am trying to catch up. But from what I've been seeing through Youtube, there are mix results, as people didn't like the fact of no crowds in the show. And I fear, really fear on what's a WrestleMania is going to be without the grand spectacle. Spoiler warning, it's less of the biggest stage of them all and more of a glorified empty house show, my opinion. Long story short, my life is pretty much screwed up as it is.

I really don't know how long this whole pandemic and social distancing it going to take? It could take weeks, could take months. And I don't know who to blame this mess from the start, whether it is the US governments not responding to this virus sooner, or China for not containing it in the first place. All I know is that I have to stay in my house for as long as possible. Thankfully, I have things to do inside the house until this all blows over. I have video games to play to pass the time, to which I even bought Doom Eternal for my Xbox One for my Birthday on May 25th. I have a makeshift gym down in the basement, which includes and old NordicTrack, a lightweight bar, Wii Fit, and DDR to keep me fit. I can do my karate with others on Zoom along with social online meetups with Hankering on these schedules. And plenty of Wrestling content online so I can watch shows involving crowds including WWE, Ring of Honor, and New Japan. Course I have plenty of food to get me by, although the milk part would be a problem if I run out and had to get more, but I have everything prepared for today. I'm just hoping, just hoping, this whole pandemic thing will pass in a few weeks or so. Cause I sure as Hell don't want to be cooped up in here for so long. But regardless, I and all of you need to stay safe and healthy and we'll get through this together. Now that I got that public service announcement out of the way, let me do another thing I can do during this whole crisis, writing fanfiction stories for all of you to read.

Now let's take a look at the last chapter and see how it all held up. Checking it out, it looks half less then before. Three reviews and over 150 hits. Now It's not that a lot of people didn't see it, no, after all, the chapter before that two years ago at best. This is what happens when you keep this story on hold for so long because you had someone handling the editing and gave up on it. Still, at least there are a number of hardcore people who wishes to see where this story is going and I appreciate the commitment. I hope that this will keep up in the this one.

One this chapter, Booker, Elizabeth, and the Skystrikers enter the Hall of Heroes to find the Shock Jockey that will get them to the First Lady Airship. But in order to get to the vigor, they must encounter an old friend of Book's. Will we be friendly to them, or will this be a hostile situation. Read to see.

Chapter Notes

Now this chapter will take place within the level of the Hall of Heroes. Now from what I can tell from the museum, it felt more like a spook house within the two exhibits, be that both Wounded Knee and the Boxers. I want to give it that feel, along with the some jumpscares. Course, with every haunted house, there has to be some scaractors right. Well, when I got the artbook of Bioshock Infinite, they originally had plans for having the veterans dressed up in costumes and make up to help fit their environment. Course, that part seem to have been scrapped because of certain reasons. Most likely racist controversies and all. So I decided to add that look into the exhibits and thensome. I mean it is rather fitting being that Halloween is just around the corner, though I fear that Halloween won't be the same now with all this Covid situation. Regardless, I think this is quite a way in improving the Hall of Heroes environment with those two exhibits. Expect for improvements in the future chapters, because this is going to be quite a ride.

Disclaimer: I don't own Transformers Prime or Bioshock Infinite

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Chapter 12: Of Ghosts and Boxers

Booker DeWitt's POV

Well this was unexpected. Our simple walk in the park turned complicated. The assignment is simple, get the girl out of Columbia and bring her to New York in one piece. Seems simple, but it's not. With our previous ride destroyed by the Songbird, we have to commandeer another one. Lucky for us, there's the First Lady airship docked within the Soldier's Field amusement park. The bad news is that our way to the Aerodrome of the First Lady is blocked and the gondola needs Shock Jockey to power up. Luckily, the vigor is located within the Hall of Heroes, so we took that option and headed to that museum. Unfortunately, our venture took a drastic turn for the worse.

For one thing, the Hall is closed off to the public as Columbia police and military are in control of it. At first, it didn't bother me as we had our share of them throughout the town. But when we took out those soldiers, I discovered that the Hall has been taken over by Columbian veterans all led by one Cornelius Slate. I've known Slate for a long time, way back during our time of the 7th Cavalry, right down to the Battle of Wounded Knee. I haven't heard from him since that horrific event. Now he's here in this floating racist city and looks to be like he's in trouble. Wish I knew what?

Regardless, that Shock Jockey is within that building and we need to get it. I'm just hoping that Slate won't pose a threat to us. He is always a bit of a loon during a battle. And when you were with someone for a really long time, sometimes it's hard to tell which side is a hero and which is the fool. But giving his own men tried to take us out, it's starting to feel like he's turning into a threat. Still, if I could talk him out of it, then I'm hoping that maybe he would understand. Let's hope for the best.

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Within the main lobby of the Hall of Heroes, it was quiet and mostly dark as no one was around. Just then, one of the doors slowly started to open and a pistol came out. Slowly coming out, it's Booker DeWitt as he looked around and noticed that the place was empty. See this, he put his pistol away and turned to the door, saying, "All right. Looks like the ghost is clear."

Two more people came in as they were Jack and Miko while the other door opened as Sari, Raf, and Elizabeth came through the other. When they entered the room, they were shocked at the site. The main hall has another one of those Motorized Patriots they saw throughout Soldier's Field and an entryway with a mural above of George Washing in a Roman tunic looking down to those that enter along with another Hall of Heroes sign that looked tarnished and altered to say 'Whores' with some desks stacked together as a makeshift ladder. But around them, it looked like it was a massacre as employees and negro servants were killed and there are bullet shells scattered around. Everyone looked on and didn't think the situation just got worse.

"Whoa… Looks like we missed the party." Miko said with her own cocky attitude.

Sari turned to her and told her, "Miko, these people were killed by Slate's men, they were probably workers and employees either setting up for an opening, or wrapping up after closing."

Booker approached one of the bodies and did a quick check on it. Seeing it, he came with an assumption. "Looks like they were opening. The body seems fresh and the stench is starting to manifest. Judging by how they were killed, Slate and his men must've attacked at the day Columbia ascended and used this opportunity to take over the Hall."

Elizabeth looked around and could tell that it was mostly dark and could make things difficult to look around. Looking down to the base of the Motorized Patriot statue, she could see a lantern next to a dead corpse and decided to take it to help the group see. Slowly approaching it, she bent down on one knee and turned to the body and said, "Sorry for interrupting you, but we need this light more than you." She soon picked up the lantern and checked to see if it was working. Turning it on, she could see that it was still active and was fortunate for that. But when she was pleased with it, the Motorized Patriot came to life and gave the girl quite a scare.

"Too rare is the man who takes a stand, for God and sweetest Fatherland. But here's the place where we revere the heroes of our city dear!"

The Washington animatronic ended his speech and shut down. Elizabeth patted her chest after that event as Miko was getting nervous over it. "I swear, I got the feeling that those motorized patriots would come to life and attack us. They really have that Freddy vibe."

Sari turned to her, gesturing to shut it. "At least they are just normal animatronic and not a potential threat. So as long as we don't have anymore potential threats to deal with, we'll be alright."

Jack though looked around and was curious about where to go. "So we made it to the Hall of Heroes. Now where will we be going? Judging how bit the place is outside, there's no telling where we can go to find this Vigor we need. Especially if this Slate guy is still around here."

Elizabeth looked around and wondered about that too. That's when she spotted something and told everyone to check it out. "Hey!" she said, "Over there!" She ran towards the area as the others looked on with curiosity and decided to follow her. Once they all gathered around, they saw what looked like a map of the entire building filled with separate wings and hallways connecting to each of them.

Booker looked to this and asked her what they were looking at. "What is it?" he asked.

Elizabeth looked through the map as she answered his question. "It's a map. Looks like it showcases the entire Hall and shows many different exhibits. There are a few that explained the creation of America and the Civil War of the pre and post eras. But there are other exhibits that showcase Columbia's history. There's the Boxer Rebellion, Wounded Knee, The First Lady, and a few others. There's also one more exhibit, but it looks like they are refurbishing it for something else. They didn't even explain about it, just a 'Coming Soon' sticker over it." Booker turned his head away and cringed after hearing Wounded Knee. Raf saw him acting this way and was a little curious as to why he's acting that way. He soon brushed it off and asked Elizabeth about where they needed to go.

"As much as we would like the tour of the place," he stated, "We are a bit pressed for time and we need to get this Shock Jockey. So, where do we find it?"

Elizabeth looked through the map and rubbed her chin. Soon enough, she figured out where they need to go and said, "Looks like the best option is through the gift shop. It's the obvious place where they have that Shock Jockey."

"And where is that?" Sari asked.

"It's all the way in the back of the Museum." she continued, "We just need to go through the First Lady exhibit and down to the lower level. That's where the entrance to the gift shop is located."

Booker looked back at the map and saw her pointing to the gift shop at the back. Looking on, he decided to take that objective and said, "Then let's head on to the back and grab that vigor." He soon took the lead and walked ahead while the others followed. Walking over the archway into the museum, they saw a front door ahead with two arms holding swords as an archway and a chandelier that fell to the floor and was blinking on and off at the front. Booker stopped and noticed a Salt dispenser that looked like a metal man holding a container with a tube connected to a tank filled with Salts. Knowing this, he knew he needed some since the last battle and pushed a button at the bottom. The container opening turned to him and spewed out a blue vapor, filling his body with Salts after one wiff. Once he was fully ready, they continued down the hall to pass the ticket counter on the left side.

As they headed straight to the doors, they entered a grand room with statues of the founding fathers on both sides looking patriotic and not wearing tunics, holding their sacred items of the sword, key, and scroll, along with other soldiers. In the middle of the room, there were three more statues that represented the legends of Columbia with flags between them. The one in the middle was Comstock himself as he was holding a sword up in the air. The second one is the statue of Slate as he was carrying two hand cannons on each hand. The last one was what looks like a younger individual that was carrying a Carbine and had the look of determination. And on the back and over the next door the honorable plaque of Columbia there were two more doors to the sides that go to two different exhibits. The first one has a sign over it that says, 'The Birth of America', and another one has the next sign on the right that says, 'Rise and Fall of the Civil War'. But looking through the room, it would see that Slate managed to do a little redecorating. All around the room, the statues were painted red and had the words, 'Tin' on each of them and the two doorways that goes to the exhibits were blocked off. There were Columbian flags that were toppled down and on the honorable plaque is a defaced writing that says, 'Tin Soldiers don't fight wars… MEN DO!' Everyone looked to the area and could tell that they are in forbidden territory.

"Sheesh," Jack stated, "This Slate guy certainly has some serious demons."

Booker looked down to him and responded, "You have no idea…"

Sari peered her eyes and told everyone, "Keep your guard up. We are in Slate's territory now, and giving what we faced outside is nothing compared to what's in here."

The group spread out and searched the area for any possible dangers. Jack and Sari headed to the statue they had never seen and checked on the plaque that read, 'Our Savior, Corporal Gregory Bishop. Protector against the Invading Foreigners from the Stars.'. Looking to this, Jack said, "Gregory Bishop? Never heard of him before. Still, the last name does sound familiar."

Sari looked to the plague and was suspicious about what else it said. "Forget about the last name, look at the title." she said, "Protector against the Invading Foreigners from the Stars."

Jack heard this and asked, "Invading Foreigners from the Stars? What does that mean?"

Sari scratched the back of her helm and said, "I don't know… But I got a bad feeling that the distress signal we picked up could be related to this."

As they were scanning the area, Elizabeth held her lantern and headed straight to Comstock's statue and saw a bronze plaque at the base of the statue. Curious, she approached it to see what it said, shining the light on the plaque to read it. Skimming the words, she was surprised with what it said and told everyone, "Guys, over here!"

Everyone heard this and looked at her staring at Comstock's plaque. They soon approached her as Raf asked, "What did you find, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth showed the lantern to the plaque and said, "Look at this." The team looked to the plaque as Elizabeth read it out loud. "Our Prophet, Father Comstock. Commander of the 7th Cavalry. Comstock served with the military. I never thought a prophet could be a soldier."

Miko then remembered about what they were facing and said, "That must be the reason why there is a strong military presence in the city. Comstock is the pipe piper, leading his men to their own deaths."

Booker though looked at the plaque and was disgusted by it. "This can't be right…"

Sari turned to him and asked of this. "What do you mean, Booker?"

The detective looked down to her and said, "Comstock… That plaque said that he's a commander of the 7th Cavalry. The man did not lead the 7th. Hell, I don't even remember the guy."

"And what do you mean?" she asked with her eyebrow raised, "How do you know he didn't lead?"

Booker was going to answer her question before a spotlight came down on the ceiling and shines over the group. The Skystrikers were temporarily blinded while a raspy voice came through the speakers.

"For it is Corporal DeWitt who proved his worth on the field that day."

Everyone heard it as they don't know who it belonged to. But Booker recognized it and said, "Well I'll be… Slate? Is that you?"

"You've always been different, haven't you, Booker? You crave no glory."

Miko heard it and said, "So that's Slate? Sounds like he's friendly."

"Don't take the sound of his voice lightly," Sari said as she looked defensive of the situation, "He could still pose a serious threat."

Booker though tried to ease the tension as he asked his friend for a quick favor. "Look, I see you're...caught up in some kind of jam here. If you could see fit to let us through to where they keep this Shock Jockey, then we'll-" Unfortunately, Slate interrupted him and wasn't in the mood to talk.

"That tin soldier, Comstock, wants my boys dead. We won't die at his hands! Neither will you."

Booker raised an eyebrow and said, "Pardon…?"

"You have tin men of your own under your command, DeWitt. You're leading them to glory when it should be soldiers of flesh and souls. I will not stand for that!"

Jack heard that and was confused by that. "Tin men? What does he mean by that?"

Sari soon looked down to the Cybertronian armor she had on and realized what he meant. "He's talking about us! Our Cybertronian forms are made of metal, meaning that he considers us marked for dead. This can't be good."

Booker heard her and understood what that meant. "Shit! There's going to be trouble…"

Immediately, all the lights turned on one by one from pillars to statues as Slate said one more thing that sounded like an order.

"All my men have left is a choice: die in the hands of a tin soldier, or a REAL one!"

Almost immediately, the door that leads to storage busted through and a dozen of Slate's men came through with clubs and machine guns as one screamed out, "Charge!" The group saw this as Sari deployed her energy blades for battle.

"And here comes the soldiers. This is really starting to become a problem." she said as her mouthguard closed up to protect her face.

Jack got his energy sword and shield out as he closed his mouthguard. "Well, this is what happens when we are in a city filled with racist loonies."

Booker quickly got his shotgun out and said, "Let's take care of these goons first and then worry about Slate later!"

Raf soon turned to Elizabeth and told her, "Get to cover, this is going to get ugly."

Elizabeth nodded as she headed straight to one of the bases of the statues and looked to the fight from the distance. The goons started to charge in and were ready to strike with half of them using their billy clubs to knock them down. Booker then charged his Bucking Bronco and waved it to them. Soon enough, the ground shook as a wave of energy went straight to the veterans, causing them to lift off the ground and cause them to fly. He then used his Murder Crow to fire waves of bird to peck on them to death while using his pistol to ping them off one by one. The ones on the rear soon weren't caught by the blast as they rolled out of the way and used their machine guns to fire at the team. Jack and Sari quickly got to the front while using their shields to deflect the bullets. They soon use their blaster hands to fire energy projectiles to them and hit the guns, knocking off their hands. Feeling unarmed, the men took drastic measures and took their own clubs to battle them. Both Sari and Jack switched their blasters to their melee weapons and held their ground.

"Follow my lead, my Gakusei!" Sari said to him.

Jack nodded and said in response, "Yes, sensei!"

The two got into their stances as they waited for the fight to come at them. When the Veterans got to them, that's when they strike. Jack soon swung his sword and chopped the club in half before spinning to kick the Veteran in the head. Saif soon went into an X formation and blocked one club to the head and held on tightly. She soon arm her boosters on her feet and took off taking the soldier with her. With a quick flip, she grabbed him by the waist and suplexed him in the air, causing him to collide with the others on the ground and piled them up. The rest managed to get out of the way while heading straight to Jack with thier clubs swinging. Quickly, he armed up his shield and placed it for a defence as the group swung wildy and hitting the energy barrier. Jack though took this option and decided to unleash it.

"Hey! Back off!"

His shield soon started to power up and created a forceful energy that pushed the group away from him. They soon joined their downed comrades as they slowly started to recover. Jack noticed that and looked up to Sari for some help.

"Sensei!" he yelled to her.

Sari noticed it too and decided to deliver the killing blow. "On it!" With her hammer out, she came down and hit them in the middle of an opening. That in turn caused a ripple effect that sent them all flying in many directions and hitting the walls and floor, rendering them unconscious.

As the fight went on, the other three saw them fight and knew that they have it under control. Miko just smiled and said, "Well, that is easy. If a bunch of old dudes is all that this Slate has, it will be a cake walk."

Booker though looked on and noticed that there's not enough men for Slate to command. And giving the assault outside, there was no way his friend would go soft like that. It was then that he felt as though shadows were over him. In fact, they were coming from the night sky. Looking up, he saw shadowy figures over the windows, and looking like they were ready to strike. Seeing them, he realized the situation and warns everyone.

"Look out! Surprise attack from above!"

Just then, the men jumped down and smashed through the ceiling windows, letting glass rain down on them as Raf, Miko, and Booker scattered. Slate's men came down with cables on their waists and began firing with their machine guns. Booker and Raf use their weapons to fire from below to kill off a few. Miko immediately spit out fire blasts to hit the cables the men were riding on and they were burning. The burnt cables caused them to snap and the men fell to the ground and landed with a huge thud. Most of them groaned as they tried to get up to continue the fight. Few of them didn't have a chance as Booker lobed a Devil's Kiss projectile in the middle and it blew up, burning some of them to death. Those that weren't near the blast radius, recovered and immediately got to cover to retaliate with their weapons. Booker and Raf ran to the other side and hid behind the statues while Elizabeth followed them to get close to them. Miko decided to take to the air and spread her wings to take to the sky. The group kept on firing on anything they could as the covering fire started to complicate things.

Raf used his carbine to fire at whatever he can, but it was getting difficult to get by. As he used his last clip, he groaned and used his pistol to help him. Elizabeth could see him trying to get by and has to help out. Seeing the dead corpse nearby, she hurried to it and checks his pockets to find something useful. That's when she found a box of carbine clips and found some use to them. Turning to Raf, she screamed, "Raf! Ammo! Catch!"

She threw it to him as Raf looked to see the box flying toward him. With quick reflex, he grabbed the box and reloaded a fresh clip into his weapon, going back to the attack. Still, the Veterans were in cover and it was difficult with them in hiding.

Miko could see the two men struggling and decided to help them out. Taking a deep breath, she breathed fire to form a line near the enemies. The veterans felt the heat and turned to see the fire awfully close to them. In a panic, they escaped and got out of cover from the flames. Miko laughed it off and said, "Hot enough for ya?"

Booker and Raf saw them escaping and decided to take this opportunity. Getting their weapons up, they fired at anyone that's trying to escape. Spraying bullets, they were able to kill them off as they were on fire. The rest of them managed to get away from the fire and got into another part of cover and fired back again. Booker though took a page out of Miko's playbook and lob more fiery grenades at them, getting them out of hiding. With his machine gun in his hand, he took them down very easily while the rest escaped and got to Raf's position. Raf saw them charging with their clubs and machetes out and decided to do the same. Taking his curved blades out, he got into a quick stance and was ready to fight them off.

"I don't want to hurt you veterans," Raf said to them, "but you left me no other choice."

With his curved blades out and positioned, he went on the attack while Slate's men started to commence their own attack. With one swing after another, he swipe at them and cut some of the clubs, but he also block off the machetes the rest were swinging as well. He managed to block one hit with his first blade then blocked the seconds, holding onto both guards with sparks coming out on contact. But we was completely out in the open as another one with a club found his spot and decided to go for it.

"For Cornelius!"

Charging, he was about to whack him in the head and knock him out. But Raf figured it was the case and reacted the best he could. Getting his feet in position, he did a jump and flip, hitting the veteran in the chin. He soon started to spin and landed back down, while holding onto the blades, the other two that got him was caught in the flip as they took off and spinned wildly landing flat on their back and causing their machetes to fly off their hands mid flip. He soon saw the rest of them surrounding him and were about to attack.

"Give it up! You're surrounded! There's no way you can take all of use on!"

Raf looked to each of them and had to think of something. Looking up at the ceiling, he could see a line of chandeliers and came up with an idea. With a smirk, he decided to put his plan into motion.

"Maybe you're right." he said, "But there's more to me then meets the eye."

With a quick wrist manuever, he targeted up and threw the curved blade like a frisbee, that said blade spin and reached the chain of each chandelier. It soon retracted back and he grabbed it by the handle. The group saw this and was a little confused on that stunt he pulled.

"You serious?" one of them asked completely baffled, "That's your plan of attack? Throwing that blade and missing us completely? You really are the worst soldier out there."

Raf chuckled a little and told them on what he really did. "Oh really? Well you better look up if I were you."

The soldiers heard that and wasn't sure where he's going with it. Just then, one of them look up and saw the chandeliers coming straight down to them. He pointed up and warned them all of what he saw.

"Everybody, run! That bastard just-"

But it was too late as the chandeliers hit them all and crashed, flattening them completely. Once the fight was over, Raf was standing there with the knocked out and mostly dead bodies of the Veterans all around him buried in pieces of chandelier debris. Once the fight was over, Booker approached him and was impressed by the end result.

"Gotta say, Raf." he said to him, "You certainly got some serious demons in your system."

Raf turned to him and gave a quick smirk. "You have no idea…"

Elizabeth looked to this too and was a little disgusted by it. "Man, I don't know if I could get use to this many bodies."

Raf turned to her and could tell that she didn't like it at all. "Sorry Elizabeth," he apologized, "None of us didn't want you to see any of this."

Elizabeth waved him off and told him, "It's all right, this is a lot to process. I didn't want to see these poor men to die in your hands, but I know there is no choice in the matter. I'm sticking with all of you till you get me to Paris. That's a promise I'm hoping all of you can keep."

Just as things were normalizing, Sari and Jack approached them while Miko flew down to join the others. Once they were all together, Sari looked to this mess and said, "These poor people… All that they're doing is following your friend to your death. How could Slate do this to them."

Before anyone could come up with an answer, they could hear Slate through the speakers.

"All these men that laid before you were once the sheep of Comstock, following his orders to the depths of Hell itself. And what do they get in return? NOTHING! Comstock treated himself like the god that he believes to be while all these men that have sacrificed everything get the boot. They all came here for one reason, and one reason only, to rewrite our history. To deliver the truth to the people of Columbia and bring civil justice to-"

Miko immediately interrupted him and decided to tell him the honest truth.

"Hey, Grandpa, save us all the propaganda bull shit." she said, "We all know why they are killed, because they are following you to their deaths, just like Comstock!"

Slate was quiet as he explained about that.

"Go ahead and believe all you want, tin. But the difference between me and Comstock is that I would die for glory while Comstock uses my successes as his own victories. My men knew of it when I spread the word of the truth of the Seed of the Prophet and Lady Comstock. They knew that Daisy Fitzroy was right about this False Prophet. And for that, he must pay for his many sins."

Booker then looked up to the ceiling and said, "Even if it means having these men die in the hands of those that don't have anything to do with them?"

Slate heard that and reminded the detective who he is.

"And what makes you any different from them? You're a killer, Booker! Like it or not!"

Booker cringed and decided that he heard enough. "I don't have time for this, Slate. Just give us the Shock Jockey and we'll leave under our own accord."

The room was quiet until Slate asked for a quick favor.

"If you want the Vigor, Booker, you will give my men what they truly wanted. A soldier's death… They are waiting for you deep within the Galloping Ghosts and the Boxers. Offer them their piece and you'll have what you need."

The light flashed as the door opens into the further part of the museum. Jack heard Slate as he said, "So wait… Slate wants us to kill his own men just to get some vigor? Is this guy inapt?!"

Sari heard her student and says, "No… This is the sound of a broken man that has nothing to lose. The same goes with his men. Well Booker, what are we to do?"

The captain turned to DeWitt and made his decision. "Looks like we have no other choice… We have to accept Slate's request and give his men an honorable death. Let's go."

He soon walked ahead as he headed deeper into the Hall while the other two looked on and were weary about that decision.

"He's really serious?" Jack asked, "Is he? He wants to kill these men for glory. Slate has really lost it."

Sari sighed and knew this can't be avoided. "Like it or not my Gakusei, we have to do this Slate guy a favor. We can't leave this place without the Shock Jockey and we have to do everything in our power to get out of this. Even if it means killing innocent people. Let's go after him."

The group soon followed him and passed through the door entering what looks like a center hub that has what looks like a timeline of Columbia in the middle of a circular room and a chandelier swaying back and forth. There were even three sets of doors going to three separate exhibits. The one on the left has a wooden banner that had an Asian appearance that says, 'The Boxer Rebellion' while the one on the right has totem pole faces on both ends and the top middle that says, 'Battle of Wounded Knee'. The one in the middle though shows what looks like three exhibit signs. The one in the middle has Lady Comstock's face with a banner below it that says, 'First Lady's Memorial' and the one on the right has the portrait of Wilkes Boothe with a banner below saying, 'Boothe: Demon Slayer'. There was one on the right that had a portrait of the same guy that the team saw at the previous room. But the banner over it was covered with a sign that says, 'Coming Soon'. They've even seen some people that were trying to escape or protect themselves, but they didn't stand a chance as their dead bodies were astren all over the place.

Booker looked around and saw that this was the main hub of the museum.

"This must be the center of the museum." he said, "and those doors could lead to the exhibits."

Raf then noticed the timeline at the center and approached it to see what it was. At the same time, Elizabeth checked the bodies and shook her head in grief. "Look at these people…" she said, "They were just minding their own business and then Slate and his men came in and just killed them for no reason. Did any of these people deserve to die?"

Booker looked to her and responded by saying, "Did you?"

Sari gave him a serious glare and decided to smooth things over. "What Booker is trying to say, Elizabeth, is that war does tend to get out of hand, and that innocent people would get caught in the crossfire. None of them deserve to get killed by some war. But there is no way of changing things. We just need to accept it."

Elizabeth heard her and nodded in agreement. "Of course… I understand…"

When that was over with, Raf noticed something and told the captain to come to him.

"Captain! Have a look at this."

Sari heard the super soldier and turned to look at the round object in the middle of the room. Soon enough, she and the rest of the team approached him and wondered what he wanted.

"Yes, Raf?" she asked him, "What did you find."

The hacker turned to her and showed her something of importance. "Take a look at this." he said, "This looks like a timeline of Columbia from the birth of Comstock to today."

Miko looked to this timeline of Columbia and groaned to herself. "Great…" she said in annoyance, "More history... As if real history is as boring as a fake one. Why show us this?"

Raf turned to the Predacon hybrid and showed her something. "Look at the birth of Comstock. Do you see anything off about it."

Sari looked to the date of Comstock's birth and discovered the date that says… "1874…" she said to herself, realizing that something wasn't right. "Wait a nano click… This doesn't seem right."

Miko turned to her captain and asked, "What's not right, headmistress?"

Sari turned to the Predacon hybrid and said, "The timeline says that Comstock was born in the 1870s."

"So…?" Miko wondered.

"So," Sari continued, "Comstock should be in his forties by now, but his appearance looks older than expected. How is that even possible?"

Miko heard him and wondered about it as well. She didn't expect that a leader of a city wide cult could be pushing forties, but looking like an old man. Thinking that through, she came up with a good theory and explained about it.

"Maybe he had that formula that accelerates aging, like what Raf had to go through when he was captured by MECH to turn him into the super soldier he is today."

Raf heard her and thought that it was possible. "Even if that was possible that he concocted a formula that nearly killed me, I find it highly unlikely. Still, what I don't get is how Comstock in his forties when he looked much older than that?"

Sari thought this through and still has more questions than answers. "I don't know… But between lying about his history, his beliefs, and now his age, it seems like this prophet is nothing more than a complete liar from day one."

Jack though noticed something else at the end of the timeline and told everyone, "I think there's more to this than Comstock's phony profile. Take a look at this last entry in the timeline."

The three saw Jack looking at the last entry and headed to his side. When they reached him, Sari asked, "Yes, my Gakusei? What did you find?"

Jack turned to her and showed her that timeline. "Read this."

Sari looked to him in confusion and looked at the part of history that Jack wants her to see. Looking at this, she reads it and says, "1902… The Invasion of the Metal Foreigners from the Stars?"

Jack nodded and told her, "That's right. And by the sound of it, those metal foreigners could be the Autobots and Decepticons that came to this world."

Sari rubbed her chin and was getting really curious. "So, the two factions have something to do with Columbia…" she said to herself, "How interesting…"

The other two teammates approached her and heard everything. Miko then approached her and asked, "But wait! If the Autobots and Decepticons were here, then where are they? It's not like they aren't hard to find them."

Sari turned to her and said, "I don't know… But the distress signal we keep getting is somewhere within the city. If we could trace the source, then we'll get our answer."

The three heard her and were in major agreement. As they were agreeing to her, Booker's voice came from the distance.

"Hey! I think I found something!"

The four looked up to see Booker and Elizabeth looking through the area, totally unaware that the team was speaking of something. Hearing this, Sari and the others approached him and the captain asked, "Yes Booker? What did you find?"

The detective turned to her and told her, "I think I know where Slate wants us to go. Do you see the entrances to the two exhibits?"

Sari looked to both of them and responded, "Yeah… I see them? Why are you showing them to us?"

"Remember what Slate said?," he continued, "He stated that his men are waiting for us within the Galloping Ghosts and Boxers."

"And…" she said with a bit of worry.

He turned to her and said in an assumption, "He's referring to the exhibits in this museum. Wounded Knee and the Boxer Rebellion! He wants us to go there to face his men!"

The captain turned to him and was still worried about that. "Is it really wise to kill his men? I mean, I get that they want their deaths to mean something. But that doesn't mean that we have to be the ones killing them! There's got to be another way to resolve this."

The detective turned to her and told her that it was impossible. I'm sorry, Sari," he said with sorrow, "but there's nothing we can do. If we are to leave Columbia and find your friends, then we must do what Slate says and give his men a hero's death. There's no other way around it."

The captain looked down and sighed, giving up the whole thing. "Fine…" she said in defeat, "I guess we have no other option. I just wish we didn't want to go down that path." She then looks up and says, "So, what's the plan?"

Booker looked at the two exhibits and said, "There are two exhibits that have his men waiting for us. We have to go to the first room and then the second. We got to make this quick though as we're in a bit of a rush."

Sari gave that some thought and came up with a better idea. "Or, we can go to the two exhibits at the same time."

Book turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

Sari turned to him and continued with, "As I see it, we have two exhibits to get through and we're pressed for time. If we can split up, we can quicken the objective and be over with it."

Booker listened to her and was intrigued with the plan. "Hmm…" he stated, "Sounds very promising, I like it. What do you have in mind?"

"I was thinking of a three man team within two directions. Jack, Miko, and I will head to the Boxer Rebellion, while you, Elizabeth, and Raf check Wounded Knee. Once we're done, we'll rendezvous here and be done with this."

Booker heard her and decided to take that option. "Understood…" Book said, "Let's get this over with." He soon turned to Raf and told him, "Raf, you're with Elizabeth and me."

The two turned to him and nodded, knowing that they have their orders. So the three headed straight to the Wounded Knee exhibit while the rest of the Skystrikers turned around and headed to the Boxers exhibit.

"You're sure they would be all right." Jack asked as he felt weary of the whole thing.

Sari turned to her student and told him, "Raf is with Booker and Elizabeth. And given Booker has experience in the whole thing, he knows what he's doing. They'll be safe. Now come on. Let's get to this exhibit and get this over with."

The other half then passed through the doors to get to Slate's men.

---

Returning to Booker, Elizabeth, and Raf, they entered through the doors and entered another room, which was the exhibit to Wounded Knee. Staring straight ahead, they could see the archway with a title that says, 'The Battle of Wounded Knee' with two Columbian flags in between, a wooden depiction of Indians preparing for battle, and a Homahawk mask on top. Straight ahead, they could see what looks like a display of a native tribe with teepees and fake grass.

Looking on ahead, Raf took a look at the display and said, "So this is Wound Knee. Got to hand it to Comstock, he knows how to present certain histories. Let's find where Slates men are and take care of it."

Both Elizabeth and Raf went on ahead to find these men. But Booker stood there and was a little worried about something. The two soon notice the detective not coming as they turn around and Elizabeth asks, "Mr. DeWitt? Is there something wrong?"

Booker heard her voice and looked down to see the worried expression on their face. Clearing his throat, he said, "No, nothing is wrong. Just a little nervous coming here and facing my demons."

The two looked at each other and were a little confused by that.

"On second thought…" he decided to forget what he said, "Nevermind. It's just nothing to worry about. Let's get going."

He soon walked past them and entered the exhibit. The two remained silent as the girl said, "What was that about?"

The super soldier tried to piece it together and said, "No clue… But let's find Slates men. I want to be done with this as soon as possible."

He soon followed the detective while Elizabeth shrugged it off and walked behind them. By the time they approached the exhibit, they could hear Indian chants and drums on the speakers. That's when they saw shadows of Indian Engines made of wood with glowing red eyes and axes held while fake fire blazed in the teepees. The three looked on and were hesitant by all of this. As they walked passed the teepees, a light was shown in front of them and a wooden cutout of an Indian brushed in front of them with his axe held and a look of fury. Elizabeth staggered back by that cheap jumpscare as the other two looked on and weren't impressed.

"Okay… Something tells me that this is more of a spookhouse and less than a museum." Booker said with less enthusiasm.

Raf looked to this and wasn't sure of all of it as well. "Well, at least they could give the kids a bit of a scare. Though I don't recall the Indians of Wounded Knee attacking anyone. From what I recall from history, they were brutally massacred."

They walked past the wooden Indian, another light was shown and three Indians made of wooden cutouts came out of the left side with bows and arrows and riding on horses, bobbing up and down while the drums played rougher.

"That wasn't the case." Booker insisted, "Whatever you heard, what happened at Wounded Knee was a whole lot worse."

Raf turned to him and asked in confusion, "And how do you know of that?"

Before Booker could answer him, the speakers crackled and Slate's voice booming through them.

'The tin soldier has taken credit for the deeds of the real ones. Now your companions, friends...he wrapped himself in glory on December 29, eighteen-hundred and ninety. Oh yes… He was a noble warrior on that day. It's a shame that Comstock took it all away and made it his own history..."

The three kept on walking up a small set of steps as a spotlight appeared and showed two engines holding a woman down with one holding the axe was ready to scalp her. As they were walking, Elizabeth was a little confused and asked the two, "What does he mean?"

Booker shrugged it off and told them to keep going. "You don't want to know."

Raf though heard it and was starting to put the pieces together. They soon turned to the right as they encountered a startling sight. They walk past a group of Indian cut outs riding on their horses as red strobe lights kept flashing and Indian war cries were heard around them. In front of them was another statue of an engine warrior standing proudly with an axe in one hand and a scalp on the other with the person he scalped laid on the floor. They slowly walked past the disturbing statue as they entered the doorway that showed one of the motorized patriots with a lever in front of them. Booker saw this and pulled the lever, as it activated and said a bit of limerick in the process.

"With hue and cry, with hatchet red, they danced amongst our noble dead. But when our soldiers took the field, the savage horde could only yield."

The patriot stopped acting around as Booker looked on and thought of the exact opposite. The three soon passed another door and it shows a huge room that has skywalks for maintenance and employees to go on over a painted sky with flashes of thunderstorms. On the floor looked to be so many cutouts of Indian chiefs and warriors all charging towards the statue of Comstock holding a carbine in the air with the American flag waving behind him. Elizabeth looked at the plaque of Comstock and almost immediately knew what's going on.

"You… You were there...at Wounded Knee…" she said as she turned to see Booker with a look of shock on her face, "I can see it in your face."

Raf then went next to her and knew this was true. "No wonder why you were hesitant in coming here. Booker, you were part of that massacre. You were with the 7th Cavalry that brutally murdered innocent people on that day."

Booker turned his head away and knew that they found out the truth. Still, he has to tell them the truth, unless they won't be close to him. But as soon as he was going to say something, Slate came through the speakers as he was speaking to DeWitt.

"Tell them, Booker! Tell them how we strode that battlefield like the heroes of Sparta! I can still hear the screams every day. Too bad Comstock doesn't."

The detective looked up to the painted sky and beraid his friend. "I don't know what got you thinking that we were heroes on that day. But that battle was more of a bloody one-sided massacre! Nothing more!"

"You keep telling yourself that as many times as you can. The reality of the matter is that you loved it. The smell of gunpowder, the pools of blood, and mangled corpses of our enemies piling up high. You crave it!"

"I'm not like that!" he retorted back, "Not anymore... I left that old me for a long time."

"Then why return to your roots, Booker? What made you compel to coming to this city and killing Comstock's tin men."

"I'm here on assignment, nothing more!" he yelled to him.

"Ah, yes… The girl… Tell me Booker, why is it that Comstock wanted to keep this girl locked up in that tower so badly? What makes her special from all in Columbia? See, my dear, if you only knew the truth of your existence, then you would begin to question your destiny."

Elizabeth turned away and was silent about what he was trying to say. Raf though got in front of her and defended her. "Hey!" he screamed to him, "Leave Elizabeth out of it! She has nothing to do with all of this!"

"Oh, young man… That's where you're wrong… Soon, you will find out who you are protecting, and then you will have second thoughts in staying with her. As for you DeWitt, let's see where your loyalties stand. Here's the soldier I spoke of, my veterans! The kind of man Comstock pretends to be! See if I told you true, Booker! Show who's side you are on!"

They soon heard the sound of Indian wales from above as they looked up to see a bunch of people running on the catwalks. Raf saw this and got his carbine out for the fight. "Scrap! They're coming from above! We have to keep them off before they start to descend on us!"

Taking aim at the nearest one, he pulled the trigger and started to fire at one of them. That bullet hit one of them in the head and killed him instantly. Booker though noticed some of them jumping off the catwalk and getting their billy clubs and machine guns out. Getting a good look at them, he could tell that they have Indian face paint, mohawks, and bandanas with feathers, making them fit the theme of Wounded Knee. Seeing them, he told Raf that they already have a problem. "A little late for that. I'll take care of the ground forces! You handle the opposition from above!"

One of the veterans pointed his machine gun out and ordered, "Open fire!"

Half of them fired their machine guns while the other half charged in with their clubs. Booker ran to cover to protect himself from the bullet fire. But even if he was safe, the ones holding the clubs were charging right towards him. Looking on, he decided to take them down differently. Lifting his hand up, he tightened it to a fist and is started to get chapped, activating his Bucking Bronco vigor. Looking to the side, he saw the first batch of men charging with their clubs raised. With a wave of his hand, he created a wave bursting through the ground and soaring straight to them. Once the wave hit, the men flew up high in the air and were floating defenselessly. This gave Booker the time in taking his shotgun out and fired round after round at them, killing them when they plummet to the ground. The men at the distance fired their machine guns to take him out, but the shielding on his body deflected the bullets and was well protected. Still, it was a lot of rounds as his shielding would break at any moment. He quickly got into cover at the same time the sheilding was shattered. As he was waiting for the shield to recharge, he saw more veterans jumping off the catwalk and landing with the clubs armed. Quickly, he flung another Bucking Bronco at them and they floated. He soon reloaded with Bookstick shotgun and fired more shells at them. Once his shielding was fully charged, he can now focus on taking care of the soldiers with their machine guns. Crackng his wrist, he got this Murder of Crow out and got out of cover, waving his hand to let the crows flying towards them. The Veterans were caught off guard and tried to get the birds off of them. DeWitt took that distraction and lobbed a couple of Devil's Kiss grenades and they exploded around the men, catching them and the birds on fire. He soon got his machine gun out and mowed them down easily.

Meanwhile, on the catwalks, some of the men saw the detective attacking their own men and decided to give him a taste of their own medicine. "Looks like that DeWitt is having too much fun. Let's teach them what happens when he messes with us." They all got in a line and pointed their carbines to him. "All right men, don't fire until you see the whites on his eyes."

The group waited for the right moment to strike while the striking is good. When they saw a clear opening, they took aim and were about to fire. Almost immediately, a stray bullet came out of the blue and hit one of them in the head, killing him instantly. The others turned to see their dead comrade on the metal floor and were confused. "What the… Who…" Before he could even finish, another bullet hit the second one and he too fell dead. That caused everyone to scatter and tried to get into cover. Then the next bullet hit the third one. And then the forth. And the fifth. Soon enough, they don't know where to go as the bullets keep on flying.

On the ground, Raf was in a kneeling position and used his sniper rifle to take them out one by one. Pulling the trigger, he shot the last one down and took a deep sigh. "Can't get a break from this." he said as he made a quick reload and more of them showed up. As he was reloading, multiple crows flew down past the catwalks and headed down to the ground. Elizabeth was hiding behind one of the wooden cutouts and watched the battle from afar. She noticed those birds they landed and gathered, revealed to be another Zealot with a coffin on his back and a sword in hand. She saw that and warned the super soldier on it.

"Raf! Crow behind you!"

Raf heard that and turned around, seeing the Zealot with the sword ready to strike. Quickly, he used his rifle to block off the attack and hold it as much as he could. Quickly, he side stepped to the side and managed to push the person on the other side. He soon took out one of the curved blades behind him and made a quick slash to his sternum. The Zealot then vanished with a group of crows and made him miss the slash. The birds passed from behind and turned around with the curved blade in one hand and a sniper rifle on the other. Once the Zealot appeared, he charged in and the two began the fight.

The Zealot quickly swung his sword to the side and went to the stomach. But Raf managed to avoid the hit by shuffling back and used his blade to hit him. The veteran bended back and avoiced the blade before turning in a circle and went for the next swing. The hacker quickly sidestepped and used his blade to block it off. The two held on as the blades were sparking. But Raf has his sniper rifle ready and placed it to between the blades to open fire. The Zealot soon noticed it and immediately disappeared with the flock of crows going all over the places, moments before the bullet hit him. Raf staggered a little and looked on as the crows flew around him in a circle. With quick thinking, he loade a new clip into his weapon and decided to take aim in one hand, sniping down a few birds as a way to weaken the opposition. But out of the few, there were too many as they begin to to gather and the Zealot completely appeared, charging in with his sword pointed to impale anyone, including Raf. The super soldier could see that and activated his jetpack to jump high and over the threat, twisting his body before landing behind them. The Zealot turned to see him and waved his hand this time, sending a flock of birds towards him. Raf could see that and got his arms in a cross to protect himself while the crows swarmed and pecked him. Thankfully, he was strong enough to withstand an assault like that as he was left with cuts and pecks on his uniform and skin. The moment the crows vanished, Raf looked up and could see the Zealot gone already, knowing that the birds were nothing more than a distraction. Peering his eyes, he wondered where he could've gone. Course, that's when one the swarm of crows gatherers behind one of the props sets and glaring eyes look down to him. That's when he charged in lifted his sword high in the air and was about to cut him in the middle. Raf could sense that and turned and drop the two weapons, taking out his Heater Shotgun to block it off with both hands. This led to a strength competition between the two as they need to out match each other.

They were pretty much in an even stalemate as the Zealot looked eager to kill. "Give it up!" he screamed to him, "You can't win!" Raf gritted his teeth and knew that this was going to be a tough fight. But he needs to finish this as Booker needs his help to keep the veterans on the scaffolding off his back. The Zealot pivoted back and charged with his sword in the air. He was ready to kill him, but Raf could see the fatal error in his strategy. With a quick pivot, he side stepped out of the way and made him miss by a mile. He quickly used his Heater shotgun to fire an explosive shot. But just as he pulled the trigger, the Zealot immediately vanished in a flock of crows and the explosive round missed him so much. He blinked and realized he could teleport as he slowly reloaded and waited for him to arrive. The crows joined in from behind as the Zealot appeared to strike. Raf sensed it and turned and used his Heater gun to block off the sword strike and hold it for some time. The Zealot smirked and said to the super soldier, "You think that little trick would get me? Please… I'm a Zealot and I see all!" Raf was seething as he knew that it was going to be more difficult than he thought.

Back to Booker, he was using his Bucking Bronco to lift the veterans up in the air and using his shotgun to shoot them down. So far, the battle is in his favor, but he was dangerously low on the vigor as he has one more use for it. Almost immediately, bullets rained from above him his shielding deflect a lot and shattered. He quickly got into cover and waited for it to recharge. Getting his machine gun out, he pointed his gun upwards and did some covering fire on a small group of veterans that arrived as backup. Booker return to cover and cussed to himself of the situation.

"Damn!" he said as he spoke to Raf, "Raf, I'm cornered here! I'm need an assist!"

By the time he said it, he heard the hacker saying that he has his hands full.

"I'm a little tied up at the moment, Booker!"

He heard that and turned to the direction of the voice to see Raf looking preoccupied. He was battling the Zealot with two different sets of weapons comprising of both his curved blade and his Heater as he fired again at the head and he disappeared seconds before the shot. The birds flew around as he waited for the enemy to reappear. The birds soon flew behind him as the Zealot reappeared and strikes from behind. With quick reaction, he used his curved blade to block the attack and held it for a while.

Booker watched it all and didn't like the looks of it. But he needs to help him out in some way and knows what he needs to do. Charging his Bucking Bronco in his hand, he told the super soldier to move out of the way. "Raf! Get out of the way!"

The hacker heard him and used his upper strength to push the hooded swordsman off of him and jumped for a quick roll. Once he was in the clear, Booker made a quick wave with his hand and the ripple of energy came out of the ground and straight to the Zealot. The enemy didn't see as he was caught by the wave and was lifted off the ground. He was floating in the air as he couldn't concentrate himself in teleporting via crows. Raf rolled back up to see the threat floating there and was relieved that he was safe. Booker though turned to him and told him to finish the job. "Now!" he screamed to him, "Take him out now before the Bronco wears out!"

Raf heard him and nodded, reloading his Heater with the one shell and taking aim. Pulling the trigger, he immediately fired and the shell exploded on contact, engulfing him in flames and burning him to death. Once he was toasted, the effects of the Bucking Bronco wore off and he fell limply to the floor.

The super soldier sighed and was relieved that it was over. Of course, that was short lived as bullets rained down on him. He quickly scampered to the nearest cover and took a quick breather while more bullets bombarded towards him. With a quick sigh, he turned to Booker, who was also in cover, and said, "I take it I missed out on something, huh?"

Booker gave him a glare and said, "Well, things would've run smoothly if you didn't provide me with covering fire. Why did you have to get distracted?"

"Hey!" Raf responded back, "Not my fault that Zealot guy came and attacked me from out of nowhere. What do I have to do?"

Booker sighed as he decided to get back to the task at hand. "Well regardless, we need to clear up the skies. Think you can take care of them?"

Raf took his sniper rifle out and tried to take aim. But the bullets were whizzing by, that it was getting difficult to get a good shot. Backing up, he cussed and didn't like the odds. "Can't." he said back, "There's too many bullets flying and I can't get a good shot. I have to find another way in getting to them."

The detective gave some serious thoughts and came up with an idea. "Those veterans could be low on ammo by now, right?" Booker asked Raf, "So we need to wait until they run out. When they do, I'll lift you up to the catwalk and you take them down."

Raf blinked and didn't like where this was going. "Lift me up…?" he asked as the gears were turning in his head, "You're not saying…"

Booker nodded as he said, "Just trust me. Got enough vigor for one more. Now get ready!" He charged his Bronco again and was ready to pull it off. Raf then took his machine gun out and took a breather, hoping for the best. The two waited until the veterans ran out of ammo. Once they saw the bullets nowhere to be seen, he knew that they were reloading and decided to pull this off. "Now!"

Raf heard that and ran out of cover to reach a nearby catwalk from above. By the time he got there, Booker waved his hand and the energy wave headed to the running hacker. Once he felt the push upwards, he flew to the air and was near the catwalk. Once he was high enough, he grabbed the railing, went over it, and went on the catwalk on his feet. With a quick look around, he could see the veterans almost done reloading and looked up to see Raf already up there.

"Shit! One of them tin men is on the catwalk! Get rid of him!"

They all pointed their machine guns and carbines on him and fired away. Raf quickly ran to avoid the bullets with his inhuman speed and took aim with his machine. Firing a spray of bullets, he killed a few of them, but the others were still standing, firing away at him. He quickly made a turn to the right and grabbed the pole connected to the railing to make a swift turn. Putting his machine gun away, he took out his curved blades and jumped on the railing, acting like a tightrope in the circus. By the time he got close to them, he jumped over a spacing in the corner and began to strike. Jumping down, he made a quick swipe to two of the Veteran's throats as they choked on their own blood and convulsed on the metal floor. He looked up to the others and got up in a battle stance.

"Next!"

He soon charged in and went back to the attack. The men soon got their clubs out and went straight to a charge to whack him. Quickly, and in slow motion, Raf soon went on the assault and found the openings needed to defeat them. He got to the first and went into a football player stance to turn and avoid the first swing before getting him on the back. He then proceeded to the second one and impaled him in the sternum with both blades and lifted him high in the air. With the body flying, he got down on his knees and slip to dodge a swing from the third veteran, letting him cut his legs by the ankles and causing him to trip while his feet detached. Proceeding to the forth one, he got back up from the railing and tightrope it, jumping off and twisting his body to let his blades spin like crazy. He soon chop off the forth guy by the neck as his head separated and flew to the opposite direction. He soon saw the last one, and needs to get rid of him for good. He could already see the veteran ready to whack him in the head, but he used his jetpack and jumped up high to avoid it. He soon threw one of the blades right towards him and hit him right in the forehead and right to the brain. Coming back down, he used his foot to kick the blade completely and the end went right through the skull. Then jumping off it, he grabbed the hilt and yanked it out of his skull, killing him in a brief instant. Landing on his feet and getting to the other side, he looked back and saw the dead carcasses of the veterans, giving a deep sigh. "Didn't want to go back being Agent X, but I guess I don't have much of a choice in the matter."

When he thought everyone was taken care of, he could hear the sound of a door opening in front of him. He soon got his blades out and waited to see who comes out this time. By the time the door opened, he could see the final veteran and he was decked out in a heavy engine style with a white armor plate with red handprints, brown slacks with brown boots, blue armbands, leather cuffs around his arms, and a mask covering his entire head with a native mask, feathers acting as hair, and horns sticking out. But what he was holding is a Barnstormer RPG as he took immediate aim at him and did an Indian cry. Raf just stood there and could tell that he was in a whole lot of trouble.

"Scrap…"

Pulling the trigger, he fired a rocket as it flew towards him. He quickly jumped out of the way and avoided the rocket shot, flying over the ground floor and landing on the other side with his quick agility. Landing on the other catwalk, he was on his knee and he looked up to see the self proclaimed beast as he took another aim at him. Raf quickly took his pistol out and fired a few shots at him. The Beast used his arm as a way to defend himself as the bullet holes pierced him, but was still standing. He looked to the hacker and had the serious intent to kill, taking aim at him and firing another rocket. Raf ducked down as the rocket passed him and hit the wall, exploding on impact. Getting back up, he retreated and ran as fast as he could, trying to find a way in putting him down.

Back on the ground, Booker watched the fight and didn't like where this was going. "Well now," he said, "that can't be good."

It was then that Elizabeth approached the detective and said, "Raf is in trouble! We need to assist him."

Booker looked down to her and told her, "Listen, girl. I don't know if you notice it, but there is no way in trying to get to him from where we are. Hell, I used the last of the Salts to lift him up for an advantage."

Elizabeth heard him and looked around to find anything that could be of some use. That's when she spotted what looked like a medium jar of salts that the dead Zealot was carrying. Rushing to it, she bent down and picked up the jar. Turning to him, she waved it and wound back. "Catch, Mr. DeWitt!" she said as she threw it towards him. He successfully grabbed it and looked to the jar before looking back up to the fight from above, wondering how to approach this.

Up on the catwalk, Raf was trying to not get hit by the Beast as he dodged another rocket shot at him. As soon as it exploded in the distance, he looked to him and groaned in complete anger. "Does that guy ever run out of rockets?!"

Getting up in a kneeling position, he got his machine gun out and fired away at the Beast. However, the armor plating and the masked head protected him from the strike and was still standing. He took one more aim at him and fired another rocket. Raf saw this and knew that he was in serious trouble. Jumping forward, he did a quick roll and the rocket missed him, only to hit and exploded behind him. That said explosion caused the catwalk from behind to collapse and fell over the statue of Comstock. Raf nearly slipped as he slided down to the edge and managed to grip the edges of the broken catwalk. Looking down, he could see the Comstock statue below him and knew this was going to be bad. By the time he looked up, he could see the Beast approaching him with his rocket launcher reloaded and was near the hacker. He was soon at the edge as well as he looked down with a sinister grin beneath his mask.

"Tough luck for you, pal. Hope you enjoy your trip."

He started to place his boot on the hacker's fingers and stepped on them, hard. Raf cringed in pain as he could feel it coming from his fingers. He wanted to let go, but that would mean falling close to the statue that would break his back, or worse. The Beast looked at him with pure intent in ending him as he stepped harder, making sure that the super soldier would let go and fall to his death. But just as he was about to finish him, a flock of crows came out of nowhere and attacked the Veteran. He was caught off guard by it and tried to shew them away, getting pecked to death by them. Raf cringed as he looked up as he saw the heavy getting attacked by these crows. But seeing this, he knew that it was his opening. Swinging his body back and forth, he was able to get back up by an upside down and grabbed the Beast by the neck with his legs. With one quick pull, he tossed him off the catwalk and he fell off it and screamed in shock. He kept on falling until he reached the statue and, obviously, got pierced by the sword that was pointed high in the air. He stuck on that sword and struggled until he twitched to death as the blood came down the sword.

Raf looked down while hanging on the edge of the broken catwalk to see the Veteran died from Comstock's sword and took a breather that it was finally over. Swinging again, he managed to get back up to his feet and was safely on the catwalk. Walking away, he looked down and found Booker and Elizabeth and saw the detective with his hand black feathers and talons. Jumping down over the railing, he landed on the main ground and was in front of them as he use his jetpack to comfort the fall. Getting up, he looked to the detective, knowing what he did.

"So…" he started to say, "Murder of Crows?"

Booker shrugged it off and answered back. "Had to find a way of getting that Veteran off your back. Seems like an effective Vigor when it comes to desperate measures." He looked to the bodies of the veterans and couldn't help but to feel sorry for them. "Still, I just wish there was some other way in resolving this then to kill these people."

By the time they thought the battle was over, they could hear the voice of Slate through the speakers.

"You did them a favor Booker. You let them die like men. It is what they always wanted."

Booker heard him and looked up to the voice to argue. "I didn't ask for this! I have no quarrel with these men!"

"Heroes never ask…"

"I never claimed to be no hero! I was just a soldier that was following orders, just like you!"

"Like what happened at Wounded Knee? You tend to keep that part of the past to yourself."

Booker turned away and didn't want to bring something like that up. "What happened at Wounded Knee was cruel, yes. But we both knew how it got started and how it should've been resolved. Yet somehow it ended in cold blood! I only want to forget about what occured back there, many years ago.

"So if you are no hero or soldier, then what are you? If you take away all the parts of Booker DeWitt you tried to erase, what's left? Nothing more than an empty shell, a tin man. That's what Comstock and his soldiers are. Heartless soulless bastards who think that they believe in the lies and deceit that's in front of them. I was once like them, until my eyes opened at the truth. Comstock is nothing more than a liar and manipulator, using his power to create his own history while erasing our own. It is the reason why I choose to fight against him, to join Daisy and her Vox rebellion. To take back what's rightfully mine."

"And what makes you think you can succeed?" Booker looked back up to the sound of his friend's voice, "Comstock has a huge army! I've seen how they operate. You think you can take on his men?"

Slate remained quiet for a few good seconds until speaking up

"You are right that the odds are against us. But know this, what Comstock has in strength, the Vox gain in numbers. They will fight for what they believe in and make the sacrifices necessary to make Columbia our own. A righteous wind is coming, DeWitt. It is you that would make a choice." … "The rest of your Tin Men might have cleared out my men at the Boxer Rebellion. Come to the redonda, I'll give you want you need."

The sound of the speakers was cut off and the three stood there with a bit of worry.

"A righteous wind…" Elizabeth said to herself, "What does that mean?"

"Apparently, nothing good." Booker said to her, "Let's focus on getting that Shock Jockey. Come on you two, let's get back to the redonda to meet up with the others."

He soon started to head back to the doors to come out of to regroup with the others. But as he was going to leave, he turned around and noticed the two just standing there. Elizabeth was standing there rubbing her arm while Raf had a mad look on his face. Booker sighed and told them to come.

"I said, come on. Let's go to the rest of your friends and get that Shock Jockey!" he demanded again.

Raf remained quiet while staring him down, not saying a single word until he asked him a simple question.

"Tell us Booker, is it true?" he started, "Did you take part in that massacre at Wounded Knee? Did ya?!"

Booker heard this and realized what he was talking about. He was referring to when Slate talked about him and Booker at the 7th Cavalry and was involved at the Battle of Wounded Knee. Taking a deep sigh, he decided to let them in on that one secret. "Yes… It's true." he answered straightly.

The two were in complete shock while Raf's emotion turned to anger and said to him, "Then why have you never told us something like that?!"

"Because you never mention anything about my past!" he just answered and continued, "You just met me just hours ago and I've never shared with any of you my dark past! Thought I was in the clear on that, until Slate opened his mouth. I didn't want this to happen and I hoped that you never knew of what I done."

Raf still wasn't buying it and decided to keep complaining about that. "Even if you kept the secret, any of us would've figured it out by now! And to think that we would trust someone who killed women in children in that Indian Reservation. People that didn't want to get butchered and massacred. How could you do something like that?!"

Booker heard that and his temper was boiling up. Not taking it anymore, he stomped his foot and yelled at him. "It wasn't MY FAULT! We came down to Wounded Knee, to disarm the Indians! It was supposed to be a simple assignment! Then someone pulled the trigger by accident and the whole place went to Hell in a handbasket! None of us wanted it to end in blood. Instead, we get what we never wanted from the start!" He turned his head away and was in so much pain after admitting that it was wrong of what happened. Elizabeth looked on and felt sorry for the detective while the super soldier was still seething over the whole thing. Booker then turned back to them and told them, "Look! I'm sorry for what I said and I don't know what other lies Comstock said about Wounded Knee, but I want to put all of that in the past. Right now, we need to leave Columbia and get the girl to Paris as quickly as possible. Unless you want to continue to point fingers at me, I suggest you trust me, just this once. Understand?"

Raf still was angry and didn't want to get involved with a murderer. But Elizabeth turned to the hacker and placed her hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "Please, Raf. Let's not fight! Booker was right that what he did is wrong and I know that he's telling the truth. He does feel sorry for what he did and regretted it ever since. If we are to leave Columbia, we need to work together. So please, just this once, trust him."

Raf looked at the girl and was going to make a statement, but seeing the look in her eyes, he didn't want to hurt someone like her. Taking a deep sigh, he decided to stop arguing and focusing on leaving. "All right… Fine…" he said to her, "Let's worry about getting you out of Columbia." He soon turned to Booker and reminded him of the other mission. "But remember the reason why my team is here."

Booker saw him calming down and shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yeah… I got ya. Let's get back to your friends."

Soon enough, the three headed to the door and left the room to get back to the others.

---

Moments ago after the split up, Sari, Jack, and Miko headed to the other door leading to the Boxer's Rebellion exhibit to take care of Slate's men. As they approached the door, Jack turned to the captain and asked, "Is Slate really serious? He really wants us to kill his own men? I get why he's choosing to fight against the system, but his tactic won't work for him on any level."

Sari sighed and told her student, "I could agree with you on that assumption, my Gakusei. But this is a desperate man that wanted to make his own history. Remember when in your world Megatron wanted to lead Cybertron into a new era when he wanted to leave the gladiator days and move into politics?"

Jack sighed and remembered about that. "Course I remembered about that," he answered, "And look how well that started."

"Exactly!" the captain continued, "Slate is doing what Megatron did. He wanted to make his own history, even if it meant to sacrifice his own men to get it."

Jack rolled his eyes around and reminded his teacher of that. "That might be true, but the difference between the two is that Megatron has a huge city by his side, while Slate has a small group to lead. And between the two, Slate won't stand a chance against Comstock's men if he let's us kill his own."

"That's not the point!" she kept going, "All that matters is that even if what they are doing is wrong, they have a right to stand up for themselves and fight for the people. Sure Megatron's morals have twisted themselves into dictatorship rule, but before that, it was for freedom. Slate is going down this same path too."

Jack sighed and hoped he's not the next Megatron. "Let's just hope that he doesn't go down that same path."

Miko though heard enough and decided to just accept this mission entirely. "Look," she started, "I don't know about you guys, but I got some skulls to crack. At least I can finally raise my own Hell on these bastards! Even if it means that this is Booker's friend we're talking about."

The two stopped and looked to the Predacon hybrid with deep glares at her. She looked at the two and had a confusing expression. "What?" she said.

Sari groaned and decided to keep on walking. "Let's get going."

The three soon continued to approach the door as it opened up in front of them. By the time they entered, they could see the actual entrance of the exhibit. By the looks of it, it was an Asian like village with a traditional red arch entrance at the end with a closed gate and it and there was snow on the ground and props. Course isn't real snow as there was what looked like soap chips falling out of the vents of the ceiling and falling to the floor. There was the same sign over it that says 'Boxer Rebellion', welcoming guests into the exhibit.

The group watched on as Miko was impressed by the sight, whistling to herself. "Man, Comstock really goes all out on this exhibit. Is that supposed to be feudal Japan or something?" she asked her teammates.

Sari looked to this too and wondered about it as well. "Could be some Asian village, but didn't give a clear description of what it is. Let's just get to Slate's men and be done with it."

The three headed down the exhibit to get to Slate's men. But by the time they placed their feet into the exhibit, they were caught by surprise by wooden cutouts of Asian soldiers with yellow skin, pointy hats, jagged teeth, rising from the stones and the houses opening to the side. The crew quickly started to arm up and was about to fight. But when they realized that they were nothing, they took a sigh as the cutouts lowered to the stones and closing their doors. Miko looked to the others and said to them, "Dudes… Is this a museum, or a haunted house? That nearly scared me?"

Jack took a breather and decided to answer the best way possible. "My guess, a bit of both." was his answer. "Exactly what is this place?"

Before anyone could answer, the speakers perked up and Slate spoke to them.

"This is Peking, where the Boxer Rebellion took place. An army of Asian warriors took Americans hostages and beheaded them. Quite a gruesome display… When Comstock and Columbia were part of America's forefront, he decided to fend for the country without the government's permission. Though it was my hand that put the city to the torch, that is not how Comstock tells it, unfortunately…"

The speakers were cut off as the three listened in. Miko heard this and remembered something. "Wait a minute… Peking…" she started to put the pieces together, "I remember about that!"

Jack and Sari heard her and looked to her with confusion. "What did you say, Miko?" the captain asked her.

Miko turned to her headmistress and explained what she said. "The Boxer Rebellion was a movement by the Yihequan, whose motive was to exterminate foreign and Christian communities in China between 1899 to 1901. It was a violent and deadly uprising as US prisoners were held captive and sometimes beheaded in the process. It was over on 1901 when the Eight-Nation Alliance defeated the Imperial Army and captured Beijing, but it soon lead to plundering the city and executing those that are suspected to be Boxers or accomplices of them."

The two stared at Miko and blinked a little bit, surprised that she was now speaking historically. And it's coming from the rebel who doesn't want to learn. The two soon looked to each other before Jack turned and asked her, "Uh… Miko? Since when did you learn something like that? I thought you were a slacker."

Miko smiled and shrugged it off, explaining, "Well, I did have some private tutoring in Tokyo and my schooling does have some special quirks. So, Japanese learning is far better than America."

Sari approached her and rubbed her chin on what both Slate and Miko said about the Rebellion. "Regardless of your education…" she started to say, "Slate said that Columbia fought for the US and wiped about the Boxers in the process. So in this universe Columbia ended the Boxer Rebellion and not the Eight-Nation Alliance. So what really happened to the Rebellion?"

By the time she asked the question, they could hear the sound of a door slowly opening close by. Turning to the direction, they could see what looks like a gateway into the exhibit opening up, with the dragons to the side spitting out papery fire. At the same time, they would hear the music picking up and playing a sweet Japanese tune. Seeing it fully opened, the three starred on as Sari decided to take it. "Guess we'll be getting our answer soon. This way!"

The three walked down to the gate as they continued to go forward through the exhibit. By the time they reached the gate, another wooden cut Chinese soldier came down and gave them a good scare. Jack immediately panicked and deployed his energy sword and cut the cutout in half, sending the head part down to the floor. Miko looked at the end result and couldn't help but to chuckle. "Nice going Jack Rabbit," she said in a joke, "You have stopped a fake cutout from scarring customers."

Jack turned to her and explained that it wasn't his fault. "Hey!" he stated, "It startled me in the first place!"

Miko simply smirked and shook her head in hilarity. The three soon approached what looked like a Chinese like temple where another cutout raised his hand out to something. That's when a paper like fire rose up and glowed brightly. Miko looked at it and was impressed.

"Okay, that looks peaceful." she said as they turned to the left and headed up to a small set of steps. That's when a spotlight came out of the ceiling and showed a Boxer beheading an American with his sword while the family watched in horror. That made the Predacon hybrid sick and changed her mind. "Okay…" she said, "I take it back. This doesn't look peaceful."

Sari turned to the left again and could see a bridge leading to another door with an army of cutout Boxers charging in with swords, archers, and flags. "Looks like Slate's men are waiting for us through those doors. Let's not keep them waiting any longer."

The group headed to the bridge and walked on it with the cutout Boxers around them and fake flames coming out of random locations. By the time they reached the door, they opened them up and saw a Motorized Patriot in the middle and stood there gracefully with sticks of incapacitated heads. Sari saw the switch in front of her and pulled it down. That's when the Patriot started to move and begin its lyrical speech.

"T'was yellow skin and slanted eyes that did betray us with their lies. Until they crossed the righteous path of our Prophet's holy wrath."

The Patriot was soon shut down and the captain listened to it. Jack soon joined in and was a little worried. "Somehow, I got a bad feeling that this wrath is going to be something bad."

Sari shrugged it off and decided to keep going. "Let's get this over with."

They soon passed the Patriot and headed to the next door behind it with the flags that have Japanese writing in between. When they went past the door, they were in a huge room with Boxer cutouts around them and a statue of an injured Comstock with his pistol out and the American flag laid across him. The place was a bit dark though as they didn't see much at the top. That's when the lights were turned on and showed the Angle of Columbia and the city of Columbia around her and was showing the grace of the city rising above the Boxers. The three watched on and were amazed by the looks of it.

"Whoa…" he said, "That looks like something."

Miko though shrugged it off and said, "Eh… At least it's not about Comstock, mostly."

Sari noticed the statue of Comstock and approached the statue. Upon investigation, she could see what looks like a plaque with writing on it. Skimming through it, she said, "This plaque says here that this is where the Boxers were defeated by Columbia, back when the city was still part of the US. Says here that Comstock led the Columbia troops to Peking and-"

She was soon interrupted by Slate who went on the speakers and complained about it.

'COMSTOCK WASN'T THERE! The Boxers took my eye and thirty of my friends! Is there even a stone to mark that sacrifice?! No! It's about Comstock! It's always about Comstock!"

The three looked up and could tell that Slate was speaking to them. Miko crossed her arms and was a little annoyed by him already. "Okay! We get it! You're upset that Comstock stole your spotlight. That doesn't mean you have to snap and get revenge on him!"

"You have no idea what Comstock has done since he became the Prophet that he is. Who he once was… is now a memory. Now he thinks of himself as high and mighty, claiming every victory as his own. Twisting lies into the manipulated sheep that follow him. Something your False Shepherd had done to you."

Jack heard that and explained to him about joining with Booker. "Look!" he started, "Booker didn't manipulate us in any way. We sort of got caught in a bit of a mess Miko caused."

The hybrid looked to him with her glowing yellow eyes and had a distasteful look to her face. "Hey! I told you that I wouldn't have done that if you and the headmistress didn't take too long in escaping that stone wedding!"

Slate ignored that and decided to ask them about it.

"Then what brings you here to Columbia, sheep. Why did you come to a city that would've marked you all for dead, just because of the color of your skin and your allegiance to different breeds. If you won't tell me, then I'll have my men extract that answer from you, by force…"

By the time he said that and the speakers were off, the three could hear the voices of Slate's men heading to their position.

"There! I see them! Take them out."

The group turned to see the cutouts of Boxer soldiers opening up and the Veterans coming out. Only this time, they were all dressed in Boxer attire complete with Chinese uniforms, pointy hats, and masks that make them look more oriental. The three got into position as they could see that they were getting trapped.

"Not good." Jack said, "We are officially surrounded!"

Sari looked to this and decided to take care of this once and for all. "Looks like there's no way avoiding it. We have to take them out, and fast! Remember, try your best to not kill anyone. I know Slate wants us to kill his men, but I won't have blood on anyone's hands. Jack, you're with me! Miko, Provide us with air support!"

Miko heard her and decided to follow it. "On it!" She spread her wings and flew in the air to provide an assist.

Jack rushed to Sari and deployed his energy sword and shield to fight. "You know, this isn't going to get us anywhere unless we kill them. "he said, "Slate does state it."

Sari deployed her blades and responded back, "That might be true. But we can find a way to defeat them without killing them. Knock them out quickly! We have to take care of this post haste!"

Miko was in the air as some of the veterans started to fire on her. She managed to avoid the bullets while a few of them hit the armor and deflected. Getting into a good position, she looked down and was ready to fire back. "You think that's going to stop me? Please… Let me show you how it's done!" she said as her throat warmed up. Opening her mouth, she spewed out flames and caused most of the veterans to scatter around the room. With them running away from the blast, this gave Sari and Jack to take them out easily.

"This is our chance!" the captain said, "I'll handle the ones on the left. You take care of the ones on the right. Remember, take them out, but don't kill them."

Jack smirked underneath his face plate and said, "No worries; I'll be gentle. Just try and tell that to Miko." Deploying his thrusters, he charged in and headed to the group to the right, while Sari deployed her blades and charged to the group on the left. One of the veterans saw them and warned the others about it.

"They are splitting up! Take them down while they're outnumbered!"

The group pointed their machine guns and carbines and fired right at them. Jack hurried to the first group and used his shield as cover to deflect the shots. By the time he was close, he started to use his sword and made quick maneuvers to slice their weapons in a variety of directions. Reaching to the other side, he made a quick 180 while stopping to do a dramatic pose. The soldiers dressed as Boxers turned around and pointed their weapons right at him. But before they could open fire, their weapons were split in pieces and fell to the ground. They all looked down at their weapons and were shocked to see them in pieces. They soon looked up to the techno organic as he smiled behind his faceplate.

"Sorry, but no weapons in the museum." he said with a snarky look.

The Veterans have had it with him and took their billy clubs and swords out and charged to him. Jack saw them do that and decided to intervene. "Always like it when they take me head on." he said to himself, "They always loose…" He soon got into a stance and charged in to begin his attack. He soon collided with the Veterans and went on an all out brawl.

Jack managed to dodge the swings while using his shield to push the group off. Then with one swing of the sword, cut the club in half and kicked the Veteran up his head. Another one came in and was going for a head whack, but the Darby bended back and avoided the attack completely. Jumping back up, he started to grab the third guy in the head by the legs and performed a Hurricanrama, flipping him to the side and letting his body hit two more that were charging in, causing a dogpile. Rolling up in a kneel, he soon switched his weapons to his blasters and begin firing away at some that were chasing him, some of whom were pushed back by the force of the blasts. Thankfully, they weren't powerful enough to go for the kill, but it would be enough to take them out. In fact, one of them got pushed into a paper machie mountain that he crash through it and vanished completely. The rest saw him go through that before turning to Jack that has a smile on his face.

"Well? What are you waiting for? I can do this all day!"

The group looked at each other and immediately got their clubs out, wanting to beat him up completely. Jack soon deployed his sword while arming his blaster and used his boosters to jump up high in the air. He soon used a few shots to take out a few men while landing to swing the blunt of his sword to trip the others, knocking them to the floor.

As he was mopping up his side, Sari was handling her side of Veterans to fight. They were firing their weapons while Sari was gilded around to avoid each hit. Using her boomshield, she deflected each bullet until she could get to cover behind a wood plank of a group of Boxers with samurai swords. Taking a breather, she decided to disarm them her way. Closing her eyes, she started to focus on the weapons and using her cyber ninja telepathy to focus on the weapons.

With the Veterans, they were firing away with their weapons and continued doing so until they could break through the wooden prop. "We're almost through! Just keep firing! We're going to teach that Indian what happens when you cross Veterans like us!" They continued to fire as they could see bullet holes coming on the prop. But as they were firing, none of them didn't know that their weapons were glowing red and the temperature was rising. But that was until they felt something hot in their hands and looked down to see their weapons burning. They yelped in surprise and dropped their weapons, shaking their hands from the burn. They soon saw their weapons melting into puddles of metal and were shocked by what happened.

Sari took a deep breath and got out of cover, leaning on the side of the damaged prop. With a smirk, she told them, "What's the matter? Weapons couldn't handle the fire power?"

The group looked at her and was seething by that. "If an Indian girl isn't bad enough," one of them said, "is that this Indian girl is a witch! Call in the fireman! We're going to burn that witch to the ground!" He soon got his billy club out and continued. "We'll hold her back until he gets here! The rest of you who still have guns, firing away on her. Forward!"

The group charged to her as she deployed her blades to fight back. "Dad always tells me to respect your elders and honor my soldiers. I just hope what I'll do wouldn't cause any repercussions." So she waited until they were near and with a quick pose, she started to strike with everything she has in her arsenal.

The group in the back soon started to fire multiple bullets right at her, but like a Jedi, Sari managed to block them all with her blades, deflecting most of the shots while the rest were cut in half by the sharp ends. Pretty soon, the soldier's guns were running empty and they have to do a quick reload while the other group continued to charge with their clubs and were about to whack her in many directions, The captain managed to block them and following the blocks were a variety of kicks and takedowns to keep them on the floor. Turning around, she could see the firing squad reloading their guns and were prepared to fire while holding off the others. With one quick block, she jumped up and grabbed one soldier by the neck with her legs, performing a twist and turn technique that caught him by surprise and flew to one end, taking out a few Veterans that were there. Flipping to the floor with one knee, she armed her book shield and expanded it with a lot of power. Soon enough, the group went to firing yet again as the bullets hit the shield and deflected it. Turning to the otherside, she could see that the remaining soldiers with their clubs charged in to straight up attack her. She grunted at the sight and had to finish this once and for all.

"I don't have time for this!" she said as she decided to pull all the stops.

With her other arm out, she opened up her hand and fired multiple shots right at them, with enough power to take them down one at a time. Once they all fall to the floor and were completely unconscious, she looked back to see the remaining soldiers emptying their weapons one more time and reloaded them. That gave her a chance to strike as she removed her shield and set up her rocket boosters on her feet. That's when she launched herself off the ground and flew right towards them. She soon got her hammer out and brought it down for the final blow.

"Time to bring the hammer on you all!"

Reaching the ground, she slammed her hammer to the floor and caused a syiesmic quake around her. That immediately made the ground shake beneath her and caused all the Veterans to get trip and fall to the floor, knocking them out on the impact and left them in an unconscious state.

Once she took out the soldiers, there were gunshots from above and bullets raining down on her and Jack. The two quickly deployed their shields and used them as umbrellas to protect themselves from falling projectiles. Looking up, Sari could see the more soldiers in Boxer attire with carbines and sniper rifles on them. The two cannot get by with them up there, so Sari ordered Miko to stop them.

"Miko! We can shooters on the catwalks! Take them out!"

Miko was flying near the ceiling and looked to see the shooters firing on her teammates. With a quick smirk, she responded, "On it! Time to bring the fire!"

She immediately swooped down and began the attack. With a tight fist, she targeted the first soldier and knocked him out clean and he fell off the catwalk and onto the floor. The others saw him fall to the ground and looked up to see the Predacon hybrid flying upwards to begin the next assault. That's when one of the soldiers warned the others.

"It's the demon! Shoot her down!"

The Veterans immediately took aim at the hybrid and fired their weapons at her. She immediately flew high and used her skills to fly around to avoid the gun shots. Once she was at the proper place, she immediately dived down and spewed out fire like that of a flame thrower. The group saw this and ran as fast as they could while others jumped down the catwalk. The very few that didn't get out got cooked and were burned to death. The ones that fell to the ground and recovered from the fall. Of course, they didn't have time as Sari rushed to them with her skates and knocked them out with her energy hammer. From one section to another, Miko torched the entire catwalk with the veterans either burned, or jumped down to get smashed by the mallet. She then flew up to the ceiling to observe the damage she has caused.

"Oh yeah…" she said with a smirk, "Nothing like roasting a bunch of racist veterans to keep me happy."

As she looked on, she noticed one figure through the flames and it didn't look like he was burning as well. She kept on staring and wondered who was in the flames. That's when the flames came out of the fire and flew towards her. She freaked out and dived down to avoid those flames and landed gently on the ground. Both Sari and Jack joined her and looked up to see what was at the catwalk. That's when the figure approached the edge of the flaming catwalk and jumped down. Once the figure landed on the floor, the three got a good look and saw that it was a fireman standing there with his hands on fire.

"Be prepared to burn by the name of Slate!" he said as he held his arms up and waves of flames spiral around him. Those flames soon exploded and pushed the three back to the door that they came in. They were hit hard in the back and faltered down to the ground. They soon recovered to see the Fireman pounding his fists together to take them on himself. The three got up and knew this was bad.

"Well, this is just great." Jack started to say, "We have a Fireman in front of us and we don't have Booker and Raf to take care of him. What do we do?"

Miko decided to come up with a plan of her own. "Well, we don't need those two. We can take him on ourselves. We just need to blow up his tank and call it a day."

Sari listened to Miko's plan and decided to follow it. "Seems like a risk," she said, "But it's the best that we got. We can't leave this room unless we take this Fireman down. Jack, you go right. I'll go left. Miko, to the sky. Let's divide and conquer!"

Soon enough, both techno organics split in two different directions, while Miko flew up high.

Both Sari and Jack armed their blaster hands and fired their energy projectiles at the Fireman. The Veteran in the suit protected himself and spewed out flames from his hands to roast them. The two got into cover and protected themselves from the flames. Miko flew up to the sky and took a deep breath, firing flames for her own. The Fireman looked up and spewed flames of his own. The two flames collided and formed a wall of fire in the middle. As the two were evenly matched, the two peeked through cover and got the opening they needed. Getting their blades and sword out, the two got out of cover and charged in to strike him. The Fireman saw the two rushing in and jumped and rolled out of the way to escape the flames of Miko. The two strike at the same time as he blocked their strikes. The two got back and attacked with one strike after another with the Fireman blocked them and tossed Devil Kiss grenades out of his hands. The two backed up and avoided the grenades, avoiding the explosions in the process. They soon went back to shooting him with projectiles to weaken the armor. As they were fighting Miko was in the air and could see that the Fireman was preoccupied with her teammates. Seeing this, she saw the opportunity in striking from above. Diving down, she extended her claws and was ready to finish him off. The Fireman continued to lob more fiery grenades at them and hoping that one of them exploded on the two. Just then, he saw a shadow above him and was getting bigger. Looking up, he saw the Predacon hybrid fast approaching him with blinding speed. Thinking of a way to escape them, he charged up his body and the heat rose up. He soon exploded in a wave of flames and pushed Miko up just inches to his body. She was spiraling upwards and used her wings to flap away and stopped herself from hitting something. Looking down, he could see the Fireman looking up to her and was seething.

"Foal demon! You think you can get the likes of me?"

Sticking his arms out, he spewed out flames right to her as she flew away, trying not to get burned. During the flight, she had to find a way to get the veteran off her back. Seeing the catwalks hanging by heavy cables, she came up with a really good plan and spit out flame projectiles to hit the cables. Those flames started to melt and loosening the walkways. The moment they snapped, they soon fell around the room and got the Fireman's attention. He quickly ran out of the as the multiple catwalks started to fall all around him. By the time the smoke cleared, the entire room was in a heap of a mess while Miko perched on the head of Comstock's statue. Looking at the devastation, she smiled and was pleased with her work.

"Oh yeah!" she said, "Now that's what I call bringing down the house!"

By the time she said that, she could see movement coming from the twisted metal and poised her claws ready to strike. As the rubble was removed, she saw two individuals coming out of it. Those two were Sari and Jack as they were coming out of the rubble and were slightly damaged from the last attack. The captain was the worst as she looked up to the Predacon hybrid and had that angry look on her.

"Miko!" she screamed out loud.

Miko saw the two and couldn't help but to feel sheepish about what just happened. "Ops… Sorry, headmistress…" she apologized, "I suppose I got a little desperate."

Sari placed her hands on her hips and gave the hybrid a little warning. "Well, the next time you pull something as stupid as this, give us fair warning!"

Miko rubbed the back of her head and decided to look on the positive side. "Good idea, headmistress. But look on the bright side, at least I took care of the Fireman."

By the time she said that, the metal debris exploded and everyone looked at the explosion at the distance. Coming out from that said explosion, they could see the Fireman slowly getting out and was fatally wounded. Jack peered to Miko with a sigh and asked, "You were saying?"

Miko stood up and didn't think that he would survive that. "It's a slight chance…?" she said to him.

Sari though saw his condition and realized that he was wounded. Getting her blaster opened up from her hand, she snapped the two back to reality and said, "Knock it out you two. What Miko's done is weakened the Fireman, which means that we have a chance in finishing him off completely. Get ready!"

The two heard her and focused their attention on the damaged Fireman, arming what they have to take him down. The Fireman slowly marched to the three with his amor heavily damaged and was breathing heavily. Looking up to the three, he decided to pull one last hurrah and said, "If I'm going down, I'M GOING TO TAKE ALL OF YOU WITH ME!" Just like that, he went to his back and pulled something from his tank. Almost immediately, the tank on his back overheated as the veteran charged towards them.

Jack looked at this and was shocked about what he saw. "Did that guy initiate his own self destruct sequence without us hitting him?" he asked.

Sari saw him running towards them and knew that it's not going to end well. "Brace yourself, "She said to her student, "He's going to blow!"

They got their shield's up and hoped that it would be enough to protect them from the blast. But Miko decided to give them an assist and swoop down to their position. Once she reached them, she spread her wings out and covered herself and her teammates. At the same time, the fireman fast approached the three and jumped up to them. He soon exploded on them and a wave of flames spread across the room. By the time the smoke cleared, there was nothing but twisted metal and burnt wooden cutouts. In the middle of the chaos, a pair of wings were present with the body of the dead Fireman on the ground. When the wings opened up, the Skystrikers were unscathed as Miko took a breather and said, "You're lucky I'm pretty much fireproof, otherwise those energy shields won't hold off a suicidal maniac like that."

Sari brushed herself off as she looked to the Predacon saying, "Thanks…" She soon approached the dead Fireman and bent down on her knee, opening her mouth guard while the white glow emanated her face until her human face was present.

Jack's mouth guard and human eyes were shown as well as he approached the dead body too and was curious about what happened. "We had the Fireman on the ropes and he decided to end his life while taking ours in the process. Why would he do that?"

Sari looked to this and was curious about it as well. "No clue…" she said to her student, "But it looks like there's a failsafe on the back of the tank that causes him to self-destruct on a whim. It's almost like he's willing to die for something he believes in."

By the time she said that, the speakers perked up and the voice of Slate was heard.

"Quite right, my young lady."

She heard that as she got up and looked to the ceiling while the other two looked around too.

"Like many of the Veterans you've faced, he had formed a pact to die with honors. And no matter the outcome, he fought valiantly in the end. They are not like the Tin Men, whose sole purpose is to protect a coward of Comstock. But you are not Tin Men, are you? Your strategy, your attacks, even your quick thinking. You are more than that. You must be part of the Metal Foreigners from the Stars…"

The three soon heard that as Sari tries to put the pieces together. "Metal Foreigners from the Stars…? You are not referring to the Cybertronians, are you?"

There was a bit of a laugh as Slate explained about it.

"I don't know about these so called, Cybertronians, but I could see Metal Foreigners then I see one. Your kind came to Columbia, wanting to be a peace with them. But Comstock looks to your kind just like any other, a threat to his people. Which was the reason why he gave the order to eliminate them. There were warnings that more will come and find those that were taken. I never thought they would be disguised as our species, let alone join forces with DeWitt."

Sari blinked and realized that what she and her team assumed was true. "So Cybertronains did come to this world." she said, getting her answer, "But when you said that they are a threat was half right."

"Oh…?" he said back, "And what do you mean by that?"

"Because there was a war on their home planet between two factions. The ones who are called the Autobots protect humanity. The other factions, called Decepticons, are meant to conquer the universes and wanted everything to be their own. The Autobots were meant to protect the humans from the Decepticons. They didn't come here to hurt anyone."

"Even if what you said is true, that doesn't change the fact that Comstock believes that the people of Columbia protect themselves. He ordered his Tin Men to capture and detain all Metal Foreigners, no matter what faction they are in. Even have one of his men get honors for handling the Foreigners himself. Made an exhibit out of it in this house of lies. That's what the so called Prophet believes in, glorifying himself and a few others as heroes while those that did all the work were reduce to a footnote."

Sari decided to skip the life story and demanded where they are. "Just tell us where the Autobots and Decepticons are! We picked up their distress signal here in this city and we wish to see if they are all right."

Slate is very quiet over the whole thing and decided to let them in on a little secret.

"You wish to know where they are and what happened to them. I will tell you, but only if you find and defeat me. For you see, I am the one that was in charge of gathering the Metal Foreigners from the Stars. But once you defeat me, heed my warning. If only you saw what I've witnessed, then you would wish that you didn't get the answer you were looking for. Now, DeWitt and your friend are already finished at Wounded Knee. Return to the rotunda, and look for me."

The speakers were soon cut off, as the others started to debate what the Colonel said.

"So… The Cybertronians came to Columbia and both factions were treated as criminals." Miko first said, "Guess we got the answer we were looking for."

Jack though rubbed his chin and said, "Not entirely, Miko. Slate said that he's the only one that knows where they are and we have to find and defeat him. It's almost like he's playing a sick game on us. What is he playing?"

Sari thought this to and wondered if what he said was the truth, or just a lie to get their attention. But she shrugged it off and said, "Let's worry about that later. Right now, we need to return to Booker and Raf and get that Shock Jockey for the gondola. Let's fall back to the main hall and rejoin with them."

Hearing this, the two decided to listen to her and left the room to get back to others. But as they were leaving, Sari was still unsure of what Slate said. If the Autobots and Decepticons were in the city and were taken by Comstock's men, what have they done to them? And what did Slate mean that she would've wished she wouldn't like the answer she got. Only time will tell…

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That will do it for this chapter. I must admit that was something I had to think hard on. While in the game, Booker and Elizabeth had to go to one place to the next to accomplish this task, I was thinking that splitting them up would make things quite easier to manage. Plus I really wanted to use the spookhouse vibe to help make this museum a bit more amusing. Course that has nothing compared to what I'm planning to do in the next one, where Booker and the Skystrikers journey deeper into the Hall of Heroes to get to the Shock Jockey and where it will be Elizabeth's time to shine. You'll be in for quite a treat. Please Review. #WherearetheGoodCartoons?