Hey, here is the next chapter to the final fight with Creedence Clearwater vs. The Rabbit Hole as they try to figure out his powers while regrouping in the mansion they don't know how to move in.
Chapter 35: Final Fight Part 2
Mary's heart raced as she wondered exactly what was going on with the others. Though she and Doc had been separated from the rest, they had Burmingham to help them survive. Their friends had no such help, and anything could be happening while the duo wandered the maze of hallways.
"Don't worry. If there's one thing I've learned from this journey, it's that they can take care of themselves," Doc said, cutting through her worried thoughts. She turned to look at him, only just registering the kind smile on his face.
"Thank you," she murmured, though she was sure he already knew. Feeling more calm than she had since entering the mansion, she searched the halls closely to search for signs of movement. The duo continued their advance, careful not to make any unnecessary sounds. Meanwhile, American Pie floated beside them, its hands scanning for any sounds that could alert them to their friends' locations.
"Hear anything, Doc?" Mary asked, placing a hand against the wall in an attempt to feel whatever American Pie was detecting.
The sight put a smile on Doc's face, though his thoughts lingered on darker subjects; the force that was keeping his Stand from hearing anything, and how they could fight such a thing. "Nothing yet, but I'm sure we'll see them soon," he responded in an attempt to keep her spirits up. In reality, he could only hope that they would reach the others sooner than later.
Meanwhile, Keith had his revolvers in hand, aiming them at the empty hallway ahead of them. Franky was following behind him closely, trying to focus on getting back to Kite rather than the growing helplessness this place gave him.
"Any luck on using Graceful Door and getting us some kind of shortcut to the boss?" Keith asked, looking back at his worried companion.
"My door, it didn't work. How could that have happened?" Franky murmured to himself, barely seeming to register what Keith said. Despite his best efforts, his mind was locked on the events of a few minutes prior.
"Hey, snap out of it," Keith said, turning to look at Franky with an unusually serious expression. "He did something to stop the door from getting made. So what? Quit putting yourself down and get your head back into the game, or it'll be high noon for us."
Franky blinked in surprise. A smile crept across his face, and with a nod, he summoned Graceful Door. It knocked against the wall, forming a door that slowly swung open to reveal the next room over. Franky climbed through with a giddy smile, and together, the two of them began to dash through the rooms in search of their friends.
"He must have ruined the local economy for the sake of that coal. I can't believe he did something so cruel to people," Kite said, still preoccupied with the truth they'd just pieced together. Once he reached an intersection, he paused to let his companion catch up.
"Yeah, and that just means he has even more to answer for. What he's planning to do can't be allowed to happen," John added in, his Stand floating behind him and his eyes searching for clues as to his friends' whereabouts. Suddenly, the duo felt a powerful presence behind them, and spun around to find Creedence standing there with his burning eyes locked on them. His ability to appear behind them so suddenly left them stunned.
Into that silence, Creedence spoke. "The leader, and the first to act when I appeared. It's clear that you two are the true danger in this group, and so, I think I must take care of you before handling the others."
The man took a step closer towards them, and to his surprise, and they took a step back, shocking him with what he saw them do. "Moving away from an enemy? Truly, did you lose your nerve when you lost your footing?" he asked, mockingly taking another step only for him to feel the ground give underneath his boot. Looking down, he was met with a simple air bubble and his eyes widened looking up to see a minefield of bubbles that were made by Lonesome Dove.
"No, just setting a trap from the one thing in this place you can't control. Air!" John said with a confident smirk. The wall of bubbles around them distorted their view of Creedence, but John swore he saw a disappointed expression on the man's face. His suspicion was confirmed when, all at once, the bubbles between them vanished. Not a single one had burst.
"With all the fights you've had to get here, I thought you would have a better planned attack then that. It was based on pure assumptions," Creedence said, continuing to advance as though his progress had never been halted. John started to panic, having Lonesome Dove launch his air bullets towards his foe, only for them each to vanish. Creedence simply shook his head at each attempt, until he stood above John with a grave expression.
"You disappoint me."
John looked up with terror in his eyes as Creedence reached out a hand. Then, from the wall beside them, a door suddenly formed. Before either of them could react, it slammed into Creedence's face, sending him stumbling back a few steps. In his place, Franky and Keith stepped forward to stand by their friends.
"Those weren't just attacks," John said with a smile. Keith and Rhinestone Cowboy aimed their guns at Creedence, while Graceful Door hovered nearby with its fists at the ready. "They were a distraction, so that they could use their abilities to find us. And they were bread crumbs, to lead them here."
Creedence's eyes widened at the realization of John's deception. Then his head snapped back at the sound of another door shutting behind him, where Mary and Doc now stood with their Stands. Now surrounded from both sides, his eyes darted back to the larger group in front of him. Slowly, his expression morphed into a wide smile, leaving the four unnerved.
"I have to admit, between the planning and execution, you're not half bad." As he rose to his full height, he briefly locked eyes with John. Then his fiery red eyes shifted away, burning a hole into a new target. "But you need to learn when you should bring in reinforcements...and when you should not."
Suddenly, the sound of wood cracking reached their ears, followed by a sickening squelch. The group looked at Creedence with confusion, but his smile revealed nothing. They only realized what had happened when Mary screamed. As their eyes widened, Creedence seemed to vanish, allowing the four of them to see exactly what had caused the scream.
A fist had punched through Doc's guitar and into his chest. His face was frozen in shock, and as he tried to cry out, blood sprayed from his mouth.
"DOC!" Kite screamed in horror.
The arm jerked up, and in an instant, Doc was ripped in two. His lower body fell to the ground beside Mary, while the arm's strength sent his upper body flying upwards. He seemed to hang there for a moment, arms still reaching for a guitar that had been torn away from him.
Then he hit the ceiling and began to fall back down. The last sound the musician made was the thud of his head against the floor.
"Burmingham!" Mary cried, summoning her Stand to punch Doc's low half. It filled with Burmingham's energy, which restoring his body to normal in an instant. Even the guitar was back to perfect condition, still tuned just as Doc had left it.
But the body didn't move. It didn't wake up, and its fingers didn't reach for the strings.
"D-Doc...Come on...Doc?" Mary whispered, her heart falling with every second that she looked at the body. She shook his body, filled with the vain hope that he would wake up if she just shook a little harder.
"M-Mary," John called out to her, slowly walking towards her with a somber expression. The others followed close behind him until the four of them surrounded her. She didn't respond, only holding Doc's head in her arms. Tears filled her eyes, and as the others got a closer look at Doc's lifeless body, their eyes began to tear up too. Franky opened his mouth, but couldn't find words.
In the end, Kite was the first to break the silence.
"DAMN IT!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. His fist slammed into the wall, tearing straight through into the next room. His anger boiled over, and as tears rolled filled his visor, he turned to the empty hallways around them. "Creedence, I'm going to shove my blades up your ass and twist them until you're paste!"
He panted with barely restrained violence, looking ready to punch a few more holes in the wall. But as his gaze returned to his fallen friend, he could only clench his eyes shut and try to leave Doc this moment.
John placed a hand on Mary's shoulder, repeatedly murmuring one phrase to her. "It's okay."
Finally, she looked up to meet his gaze. "Mary, he's in a better place. I'm sure he would want you to carry on with your life."
She ducked her head and buried her face into his chest, wailing with pain that Burmingham couldn't mend. The others paid their respects for Doc in various ways; Keith held his hat to his chest, Franky tried fruitlessly to wipe the tears from his eyes.
Kite noticed that none of them were getting up, despite John's words, and shook his head with a bitter laugh. He was still the leader, so he still had to act like it. He walked past them all, drawing their attention as he reached the end of the hallway. Then he turned back to their tear streaked faces and cloudy eyes. "We need to move on. We're going to take Creedence out, before he kills the rest of us."
"He's right," John said, rising to his feet unsteadily. He took a final look at Doc's peaceful face, just as Mary remembered him, before wiping the tears from his own face. "We need to get his killer taken out before we're forced to join him. We can bury him at home when this is all over."
With those words spoken, John walked on towards where Kite was standing, leaning in against the man's ear. "We both know why he took out Doc, right?" he asked quietly.
Kite looked back at him, gritting his teeth at the reminder. "Yeah, Doc could attack from long distances, and made finding Creedence easier."
John just looked at him for a few moments, then looked back at Mary, still lying on the floor. The other two stood up next to her, whispering comforting words. After a few seconds, he had to turn away, but their expressions were burned into his mind.
"No," he said at last. "He wanted to show he could take our lives, even if we were mere inches from the person who could save us. He's just fucking toying with us like we're pawns on a board."
"Then he fucked with the wrong one." Mary's voice cut through all of them. As four sets of eyes fell on her, she stood on two feet and gave them all a look that would make the devil himself flinch if he saw it. She said nothing else, walking on past Franky and Keith to join the other two. She looked back at the two who still stood by the body, who each turned to each other.
"Let's go," Keith said, taking off his hat and placing it carefully onto Doc's chest before rising. "We need to get this outlaw and hang him for his crime."
As Keith walked away, filled with terrible purpose, Franky stood up at last. He inhaled deeply, took out his comb, and left it on Doc's chest next to Keith's hat. Then he joined the group, and together, the five began to walk down the hall in search of the enemy. If he thought he could shake their resolve, they would prove him wrong.
In a hall on the other side of the mansion, Creedence was leaning against a hall, coughing and coughing until blood ran down his face. He'd taken advantage of their distraction to make his escape, but it seemed they wouldn't need it. His body was failing him.
"Damn, one attack took that much out of me?" he wondered to himself, looking at the blood in his hand. He shook his head to shake away the image, then brought himself to his feet, aided by a massive figure just behind him. "I can't keep these tricks up."
He began to walk down the hall himself, heading to meet his enemies.
"I need to finish them off now."
TBC.
That is it for this chapter and I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a review and tell me how you think the fic is going.
