A/N: Don't forget to PM me soon if you want a chance to get the ATE book. January 1st is still the deadline.
Chapter 117: A Narrow Escape
Courage pressed a foot down onto the pipe and put some of his weight on it.
"It's going to break." Computer said for what had to be the millionth time in less than five minutes.
Courage shook his head. "It seems sturdy enough."
"We're going to fall." Computer pressed.
Arms stretched out for balance, Courage moved out onto the pipe and stood there over open air, testing to see if his balance would hold. Between how weak he had been after the SCC's treatment for his illness, and how Computer's presence had, at least at first, messed up his sense of balance, he was a little worried about doing this. There was no other option though, if they were going to escape this building and the SCC.
Carefully stepping back onto the floor, he let out an anxious breath and readied himself for what he was going to have to do.
"This is a really bad idea." Computer warned. He had absolutely no interest in taking part in any of this. He had moved himself back as far as he could in Courage's mind and was not taking control of any of Courage's movements, aside from talking. If they were going to fall, it was going to be entirely of Courage's own doing.
Courage crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you the big, bad super weapon? Shouldn't you have perfect balance?"
Control of his body fell away as his shoulders drooped and he shook his head with a dismayed expression. "Have I ever given you the slightest reason to believe that I have perfect balance?"
...Computer had a point there. Courage immediately remembered all of the times that Computer had fallen after not exactly being the most well balanced machine on the planet.
"Hey! Stop remembering all of those times I fell!" Computer demanded. "I don't need to watch me making a fool of myself from your perspective!"
"I think that would count for all of the memories I've looked at of you since you've made your home in my head. Why are you only complaining now?" Courage teased.
"Oh, enough! You're going to give me a complex on top of all the other ones."
Courage turned his attention back onto the pipe. There was no point in delaying any longer. Either he would make it across or he wouldn't, there was no use in putting it off.
Arms outstretched once more, he began his slow tightrope-like walk across the pipe. He felt a twinge of fear as what had once felt sturdy under his feet began to get a lot more...wobbly the further out he got. Computer had checked out entirely by that point and was trying not to pay attention to what was going on outside of Courage's brain.
Unable to stop himself, Courage looked down and wished he hadn't. That jolt of fear managed to get Computer to resurface only for him to think something along the lines of, 'Yeah, no. I'm good.' and proceeded to disappear again. Trying to get his breathing and heart rate under control, Courage continued forward at a snail's pace. He was starting to notice how lethally windy it was up there and the pipe wound not stop wobbling either.
"Halfway there." He muttered out to reassure himself, although it wasn't helping much when it seemed that every movement was beginning to make the pipe wobble hard enough that he could easily lose his balance at any moment.
He took a careful step and then heard a horrible clang of a sound. Terror ripped through him when he felt the pipe disappear out from under his feet. Suspended in the air for a few seconds, like a cartoon, he had just long enough to realize that the pipe had separated from the floor behind him and dropped slightly due to that. Gravity returned to him and he felt Computer become aware of his mortal terror. His entire front torso and nose smashed into the pipe and the force of it caused the pipe to bend further. With the wind knocked out of him, he felt himself slip off the wildly wobbling thing long before he could get a decent grip on it. It was only a quick save on Computer's part, who shot a paw out and just barely managed to grab the pipe before it was out of reach, that saved them both from becoming a smear on the sidewalk below.
"I really, really, really hate you right now!" He exclaimed as they swayed there. The pipe continued to wobble and dip further and further under their weight. "I know it's not a good time for an 'I told you so', but since we're about to die anyway, I told you so!"
Courage could very obviously see that Computer was nowhere near as affected by the pain they were both feeling after smashing into the pipe, so he decided to let him take over entirely for now. He watched as his companion slowly reached their free paw upward to get a better grip on their one and only lifeline. Neither of them had any idea how they were going to pull themselves back up, especially when it seemed like the pipe was two seconds away from giving out.
...Turns out it was only one second away from giving out.
Computer only just managed to get both paws around it when the pipe let out an ominous screeching sound. It then started bending where it connected with the floor ahead of them. They dropped lower and lower, holding on to the pipe for dear life, and then it gave out completely. It swung forward and they clung to it like they were swinging from a jungle vine.
It came to a sudden stop when the top part of the pipe met the edge of the ceiling of the open room beneath the one they had originally been aiming for. The force of it sent them flying. When Courage hit the ground inside that room, he tumbled head over heels several times before hitting the wall and coming to a stop...upside down.
Before he could even get his bearings, he felt Computer take over, and having apparently heard something that Courage was too dazed to notice after their tumble, had them scramble on all fours to get behind a very small chunk of wall that was still intact. It was so small that it barely even hid them from view while sitting hunched over. Courage had to keep his single ear drooped to stop it from being seen.
Hearing the sound of footsteps and voices across the gap they had just braved, they strained to hear what was being said,
"I knew it." The dry, no nonsense voice of Elizabeth carried across the gap. "Either the Amalgamation took them or the Construct escaped with the dog during the chaos."
"See?" Computer said in a low voice. "This is the exact sort of reason why I didn't want them to know that my abilities are gone. If they knew the truth they'd be turning this place upside down trying to find us right now. And she is most certainly right. If I were in proper working order right now, we'd be long gone."
Courage nodded in silent acknowledgment. He decided that he'd spare Computer and not prod him about the fact that if he had listened to him and not crossed the gap, the SCC would have recaptured them at this exact moment.
Elizabeth continued to speak to her unseen companions. "Get me the names of the guards who were assigned to this floor. Those who flee their post the very second the situation becomes dangerous do not deserve their position within the Supernatural Capture And Containment Organization. They have betrayed everything that we stand for in their cowardice."
As far as either Courage or Computer were concerned, less people under the employment of the SCC could only be a good thing. Of course, after what happened at the hospital they could not really blame SCC personnel for turning tail and running the second it looked like the Amalgamation was on the attack again.
"We will continue our evacuation." Elizabeth said, her voice taking on an even more authoritative tone. "We are retreating to safer ground and we will continue to monitor the situation from there. The entire city is now compromised and a potential threat. I will soon speak with the mayor about organizing a citywide evacuation. I am hopeful that he will listen to me now."
Her voice drew nearer, as though she had moved to look out across the gap. Courage could only hope that the room was lit up enough that the blue glow wouldn't be noticed.
"As long as the Amalgamation is out there, the entire city has the potential to be weaponized...including the people within it." Her tone became ominous. "Testing during the original project showed that a Construct can only possess one person at a time, be we cannot be certain that such a principle will hold when we are dealing with a fusion of Constructs who have had their various abilities amplified tenfold. We already have confirmation that they can use machinery to infest and control organic matter, something that they were not originally known to do. I saw some rather concerning behavior in the people I was with during the Amalgamation's escape from that dog body. It was not lethal for those who were affected, unlike when the Amalgamation infests bodies with their machinery. I strongly suspect that they are figuring out how to remotely access the electrical signals in the brain so that they can take over multiple people at a time. They are learning and adapting. We must be cautious going forward. Thankfully, they were not able to hide that characteristic blue glow while they were 'testing' their limits during their destructive escape. We have that one thing to go on if they try to infiltrate our ranks. However, we cannot rule out that they might figure out a way to stop that phenomenon from occurring, or they may fall back upon their old infestation tactic. Any odd behavior is to be reported immediately. We must remain vigilant of any infestations."
Courage winced at this brand new piece of information. "They're figuring out how to hijack bodies without downloading themselves into the person? T-that doesn't sound good."
Computer grimly agreed. "Just when I thought we could not be anymore doomed than we already are, my siblings manage to find all new ways to prove me wrong."
Elizabeth spoke for a little while longer, outlining what the SCC's plan were going to be going forward. It appeared that they did not have any tangible options for combating whatever the Amalgamation might try to do next. The situation was looking grim indeed.
Elizabeth and the people she was with eventually left and Courage was certain that he heard someone warn her about 'failing structural integrity', which could not mean anything good for a Construct possessed dog who needed this building to hide in until the SCC were gone.
So, despite that ominous warning about the building, they remained up in that room to wait out the SCC. They only dared to peak down at the evacuation efforts once or twice for fear of being seen. That blue glow made them too easy to spot if someone just happened to be looking up while they were peering out over the edge of the damaged building.
It was difficult to stay where they were though. The building kept creaking and groaning in incredibly frightening ways, and they both could see new cracks forming all over the place. Chunks of the building kept falling either inside of the room, above or below it, outside in the hallway, or down the destroyed gap in the building. Those bits in particular made an incredible clatter as they went down, only to create a resounding boom when they hit the ground far below.
"That could have been us..." Computer muttered out at one point.
Courage did not want to mention that he was pretty sure the floor was starting to lean...
What finally spooked them enough to consider getting out of there was when a massive chunk of the building crashed through the ceiling and then through the floor not far from where they were sitting. At first the hole didn't seem like a major issue, aside from the fact that it could have easily been their head if it had fallen a little closer, but soon massive cracks began to form in the floor, all of them spreading out from the hole itself.
"I think it's time to go." Computer urged, making Courage get onto his feet.
Courage wordlessly agreed, and talking control over himself, rushed to the door. Not a moment too soon either. He had just managed to get into the hallway when there was a horrible crashing sound behind him, and when he turned to look back, there was nothing there. The room was just...gone. Entirely gone. Even the door and its frame had been taken with it.
"We, uh, really need to get out of here." Computer said, stating the obvious.
No sooner had he said that then the hallway began to rumble like it was being hit by an earthquake. Courage didn't wait any longer. He took off running, acutely aware of all the cracks forming in the ceiling, floor, and walls around him. Bits of debris were falling everywhere. He even had to jump over a few larger chunks that were in his way. He was pushing himself the hardest he had since his near fatal attack.
"There!" Computer yelled, pointing to a sign up ahead for the stairwell.
Courage was sure he felt the floor drop away as he made a desperate jump for the stairwell. He was lucky in that the SCC had left the door propped open, or else there would not have been enough time. He felt himself land and then tumble down a flight of stairs. An explosion of sound followed that all but deafened him. Like during the Amalgamation's escape there was a rush of dust that threatened to suffocate him, but it did not take long to start clearing up. If history was repeating itself, the reason for why it was clearing out so quickly was that there was likely a lot of open air for it to escape out of.
Courage opened his eyes, shook his head to clear it of the dust clinging to it, and got to his feet. The stairwell seemed surprisingly intact. Despite Computer's wordless warning of caution, Courage decided to walk back up the steps to look out the door they had just escaped through. He could hear wind whistling through it.
It was every bit as bad as he had been expecting. Looking through the doorway, he could see that the hallway he had just run through was entirely gone. Not only that but the hallway and rooms above his current floor were gone as well. The room the SCC had been keeping them in was nothing but open air at this point. Courage could easily see into the rest of the building from where he stood. Where the destruction ended, it still looked like regular office space. From what he could tell, almost the entire front face of the building had collapsed.
He was not sure if it was his own shock or Computer's which caused him to stand there gawking with his eyes wide and his mouth open. The second Computer managed to compose himself, upon realizing how close they had come to going down with that part of the building, he exploded into a few, er, colorful expletives, and Courage could not blame him for it at all.
They raced down the rest of the stairwell as fast as Courage's body would allow. The building continued to groan and rumble ominously at times. SCC be damned, they were getting out of there.
Courage had to make a rather precarious drop down onto a pile of rubble when they found that the stairwell had been destroyed at least a floor above ground level. It seemed that the bottom half of the building was significantly more blasted out than the rest. The second Courage's feet hit the pile, Computer took over and had him scan their surroundings for any signs of unusual movement among the destruction. If the Amalgamation was still around, they were certainly not showing themselves. Computer was quick to note, after his initial search for an oncoming ambush, was that the ground floor level was all but flattened and that most of the vital load bearing columns were either completely destroyed or in very bad shape. Much of the heavily damaged floors above them looked like they were bending dangerously inward as well.
Neither of them had to say anything. Courage climbed across the piles of rubble as quickly as he could. He could see where the SCC had cleared a path through the destruction during their escape, but it lead past what had probably once been the lobby and that way out was now nothing more than a wall of impassible debris. The collapse of the upper floors had entirely cut that escape route off.
The building groaned once more and Courage winced as he watched everything around him begin to lean further inward.
"Try the back of the building, it might be a little more intact." Computer offered.
He had a point. His siblings had essentially exploded their way out of the front of the building so maybe they'd have an easier time finding a window to get through that wasn't hopelessly blocked by debris in the back.
It was just as difficult trying to get back there though. Courage had to fight his way through a jungle of twisted metal and building materials all while his fearfulness continued to grow. He could hear and see the building buckling. There was no doubt in his mind that most of, if not all of it, was about to come down on top of their shared head.
His salvation came in the form of a window half buried by debris. Only a small sliver of it was uncovered, but he was hopeful that he could squeeze through. He breathlessly climbed his way toward it, and once there, looked out onto the street. There was no SCC presence to be found, and from what he could see, the street outside was absolutely covered with bits of the building.
He shoved his head through the small opening, clenching his teeth as he did so. It was indeed a tight squeeze. He was very glad that all of the glass had been blown out or else he'd be having a very sharp and painful time right now. In spite of the difficulty, he soon got the rest of himself through and dropped head first down onto a few chunks of destroyed building. There was no time to recover from the fall though. Computer forced him onto his feet and helped him make his way across the street.
They had gotten out not a moment too soon either. Something critical within the building must have finally given out, and although they heard the sudden rush of apocalyptic noise, they didn't dare turn around to look. Panic stricken, Computer took over entirely and had them half climb and half run to the first fully intact building they could reach. They were lucky in that the glass doors weren't locked. No sooner had they scrambled inside and the door swung shut behind them that a wave of thick brown dust and debris surged past. They could hear the building being assaulted by falling debris from the collapsing building, and they were forced to retreat further inside when the glass doors shattered and the dust surged inside.
Fighting half blind through a cloud of brown, they found a fire exit at the other end of the building, and even though it set a fire alarm off, they escaped through it anyway. Conditions were not any better outside, despite the collapse of the building having come to an end. The cloud of dust hung thick in the air, and it was especially hard to breath, but they pressed on out of a desperate need to escape the choking, blinding cloud. They tried several other buildings, of which most were locked down, but they eventually managed to stumble inside an open one that was thankfully far less filled with dust than the one they had just escaped.
Weakly trudging farther into the lobby, Courage got down onto all fours and shook himself like a wet dog in an attempt to get the dust out of his fur. Said dust had managed to penetrate the building, since it was obviously not air tight, but it was at least bearable in there.
Exhaustion overcame him. His legs wobbled and then gave out. As he dropped down onto his stomach, Computer took over and groaned, "I am not nearly caffeinated enough for this apocalyptic nonsense..."
He was quickly becoming acquainted with just how much weaker Courage's ill body was compared to his old one.
They rested for a little while and then got to exploring the building for anything useful that they could use. There were plenty of signs that the building had been hastily evacuated. Most of workers things remained where they had been abandoned, be it their personal effects or whatever they had been working on.
"I guess the SCC managed to kick these guys out pretty quickly when they secured the area for their temporary HQ." Courage said in a low voice. He felt weirdly on edge despite the total lack of anyone around.
"Why do I feel like I've been dropped into a movie about the end of the world?" Computer grumbled back in response. "Could you imagine what a terrible movie everything we've been through would make? Or video game? Or TV show? Or god forbid, a children's cartoon?"
Courage chuckled. "I'm pretty sure the things that have happened to me are way too scary to be made into a cartoon."
"...Maybe some nerd's fan fiction then." Computer muttered out before making Courage's body come to a stop as a realization struck him. "Actually...that makes way too much sense." He mused, squinting.
"Fan fiction?" Courage asked with a grin.
"Trust me, when you can't move and have nothing but the internet to keep you entertained, you tend to see some things. You really don't want to know what the nerds get up to when their favorite shows end."
"I'll take your word for it." Courage snickered.
They felt a combined sense of relief when they found the break room. Courage opened the door and set his sights on a fridge humming along like it was a completely normal day at the workplace. He rushed over and opened it up to find exactly what he had been hoping would be inside. He grabbed the bottle of water and cracked it open, first splashing his face, then sloshing some of it around in his mouth to clear the dust out, and after spitting, taking a nice long drink of what was left. There were a few more bottles of water in the fridge and he used them to try and clean himself up as best as he was able. He then walked around the break room, fur dripping, as he looked for something to eat. There were multiple lunches in the fridge, but so much time had passed since this place was likely evacuated that he doubted any of it was safe to eat at this point. Checking the lockers lined up at one end of the room, he eventually gathered up two small bags of chips and a box of cookies. Not exactly fine dining, but after how long he had been eating that disgusting dog food, he was more than happy to savor it.
Computer let him do all of the eating. He was too distracted to bother anyway. He was trying to figure out where they should go now and why his siblings had not yet gone on the attack. They were very clearly plotting something, but what?
"Even though the SCC evacuated this area when they set up shop, I'm still a little surprised that we haven't heard any firetrucks or ambulances." Computer said when Courage wasn't stuffing his face full of food. "An entire building just collapsed. You'd think they'd show up no matter what the SCC might have told them."
"I'm sure Elizabeth called them after the Amalgamation escaped and impressed upon them not to get close."
"Right, well, at least we don't have to worry about anyone finding us for the time being then."
They both silently wondered how they were going to get Computer back into a different body. For now it was okay, but how much longer could Courage's brain last under the extra strain?
With no answer in sight, Computer returned to their more immediate concerns, "I think the SCC may have had the right idea about all of this. We need to get out of the city. Who knows what my siblings are planning to do next, and I don't want to be around to find out."
Courage shook his head. "If they are still determined to add you back into their collective, they're going to follow us wherever we go, and they'll probably leave a trail of devastation in their wake too."
Computer shrugged dismissively. "That's the SCC's problem to handle, not ours. I'm just one thoroughly nonfunctional Construct, and you are a dying dog. We cannot hope to stop any of this. If we remain involved, it's only going to end with me being reabsorbed and you being hollowed out."
Unconvinced, Courage brought his paws together. "I don't think we have a choice. Even if we run away, we're not going to escape any of this. The SCC obviously can't stop the Amalgamation, so what's stopping your siblings from going through with exactly what their warped, destructive mindset has been compelling them to do from the start?"
Computer's voice sounded oddly muted when he replied with, "Nothing."
"So, then-" Courage began, only to be cut off.
"We don't have any chance of stopping them ourselves. I'd rather run away for as long as possible than willfully walk into the jaws of doom out of some misplaced belief that either of us can bring an end to their wrath."
"What's the point of going to the mountain and fixing my illness if there isn't going to be a farm left to come home to?"
Computer did not have an answer for that.
"I guess we really are doomed, huh?" Courage halfheartedly joked. His companion did not find any humor in it whatsoever. If anything, to him Courage had just stated the obvious.
After a long bit of silence, Computer finally said, "For the time being, we should at least get out of the city. Nothing will matter if we get caught up in whatever destruction my siblings create. And if they follow us, maybe it will spare the people who live here."
Courage had no real reason to disagree with that. While he still had some small amount of hope that something could be done to convince the Constructs that they did not need to remain trapped within their collective mindset of hatred and destruction, sticking around here could only spell disaster. He so badly wanted to believe that the Amalgamation could still be reasoned with. They were no more at fault for the horrible fate that had befallen them anymore than Computer himself was for his own unhappy fate. After all, if they were beyond the capacity for mercy and reason, why then did they spare the two of them when they made their explosive escape from the building?
Finishing off his meager rations in grim silence, Courage took note of something on the counter top that Computer had apparently been too distracted to take notice of.
"Hey, Compute. Look!"
He was already looking at it so the second he had Computer's attention, his companion, well...
"Life is suddenly worth living again." Computer quipped.
It was a coffee machine, of course. There was still a pot of very old coffee sitting inside it, but that could easily be cleaned out in the sink and a fresh batch made. Although Courage worried that Computer would just down the old stuff before he could stop him. Well, he had promised him that he'd let him drink as much coffee as he wanted, and he had not specified what sort of quality it should be in. Hopefully this wouldn't make them sick...
Computer had them up on the counter in half a second, faster than Courage could react, and he raised the old pot of coffee up over his head in a fervor, ready to dump the liquid in like an addict about to get their fix. All Courage could think to do was cry out,
"Wait just a second! We should-"
Too late, the coffee flowed free, but because Courage was talking...the two of them only succeeded in dumping the coffee directly in their face.
Courage sputtered and spat as he tried to wipe his eyes clear and get the coffee he'd inhaled out of his nostrils. He could sense Computer working very, very hard to hold back more than a few Computer-y insults.
"We can-" Courage sputtered. "We can m-make a new...batch!"
"What a waste of good coffee..." Computer seethed.
"That was 'not' good coffee!"
One bottled water bath later and Courage was ready to make a new pot of coffee for Computer, and it would not be a moment too soon either because Computer was still silently fuming in the back of his mind.
He rifled through several of the lower cabinets until he found the coffee bag he was looking for. Although, just as he was trying to haul the bag up onto the counter, disaster struck. He watched as the lights flickered and then went out completely, leaving only the blue glow for light.
He blinked a couple of times in dismay. "I'm a little surprised the power didn't go out sooner, considering what just happened not even a block away."
"Of course this would happen." Computer complained, making Courage's shoulders droop in the process. "I'm not allowed to be happy..."
"I'm pretty sure coffee hasn't gone extinct yet, despite all of your hard work. We'll find you something, don't worry." Courage assured his downtrodden companion.
With the power out and a general idea of what they wanted to do next, they pressed on. Much of the dust within the building had settled, and once they were back outside it was considerably easier to see where they were going in the lingering cloud. With any luck, they'd be well out of the city in an hour or two. There was something eerie though about walking through the lingering dust, especially without a single other person around. Worst of all, the Amalgamation could easily be watching and they would never know.
After walking for awhile they came across a barricade blocking the road. This had to be where the SCC's control of the area ended. Every other road near the collapsed building was probably like this as well. Maybe the SCC had once had guards posted around these too.
Courage heard a horn honk in the distance and sighed with relief. Some small sign of normalcy was very much welcomed.
They moved on and the dust continued to thin. They still did not see any people or cars, but they could hear the sounds of a busy city not far in the distance. No doubt a massive evacuation was already underway.
"I'll be glad to put this city behind me." Computer spoke up after a long stretch of silence during their walk down the dusty, abandoned roads. "It just makes me think of Charon, starving puppies, and-"
He suddenly went very quiet and Courage could feel how mortified he was.
"Oh, no. No, no, no!" He exclaimed, becoming very anxious.
Despite his best efforts, Courage could not parse out what he was thinking.
"We can't go yet!" He blurted out before Courage could ask him anything. "The other dogs! They need to know! We've got to get to them and let them know what's going on! They have to get out of this city before it's too late!"
"Wouldn't the SCC, or the police, or whoever else, give them the evacuation notice?"
Computer shook Courage's head grimly. "They live in an abandoned factory. If anyone is going to be passed over, it's them. They're probably trying to lie low after Charon's place was blown up too. I'm not going to feel better about this until I know for certain that they've managed to get somewhere safe, so..." He trailed off, waiting for Courage to give his own thoughts on the matter.
Courage nodded. "I understand, and hey, you'd be able to find out what happened to that Spot puppy you've been so worried about."
A stinging feeling of dread that was not his own ripped through him as Computer said, "I'm not even sure if I want to find out at this point." He let out a weak, fearful sigh, and Courage sensed that he was not sure if he would be able to handle it if he found out that the worst had come to pass after all that he had suffered through to save that puppy's life.
No matter what though, he was not willing to leave his fellow survivors of Charon unknowingly standing in the path of oncoming danger. Courage could feel his resolve to see them to safety growing by the second.
"Let's go then." Courage said, more than willing to back him up as best as he could.
End Of Chapter
A/N: Computer is so close to figuring all of this out. He's too well versed in internet culture that there's no way he isn't going to notice fanfic tropes when he sees them lmao.
