Hello, King Spike Rules here and here is the second half to the Hotel California fight with Doc having to find a way to save his friends form the attack.
Chapter 20: Nightmare Stop part 2.
Doc McQueen was a quiet kid growing up. He didn't talk much, not even with his own family. He kept everyone at a distance, because he had to keep a secret. He had a friend, an invisible friend that listened to every word Doc said; a friend named American Pie. With his friend by his side, Doc would simply listen to all the conversation around him, just like American Pie. His continued silence made his family confused and concerned, taking him to multiple psychologists to try to get him to open up more. But none of them could see his friend.
This continued until he was seven years old, when something finally clicked. After years of talking to nobody except his friend, he walked up to his mother and father, saying "I love you" for the first time. SInce then, Doc spent time with his family, opening up a bit more each day, telling them how he was going to be a great musician. They would just listen, smiling all the while. That is, until a drunk driver took them from him.
Doc learned his lesson, and stopped trying to open up to people. For years, he was silent, only speaking with American Pie. This continued until he met Kite, the first person who could see his friend. It wasn't perfect, but their conversations helped him get out of his funk. Slowly, Doc regained his music, and regained his voice.
Doc held his guitar tightly in his hands, his eyes focused on Henley, who simply stood there with a smug smile. Suddenly, Henley threw open a door, ducking into the room. Before Doc could reach him, the door slammed shut in his face. He slowly backed away from the door, eying it warily. Yet he was struck across the face from an entirely different angle, Henley's fist sending him staggering to the opposite wall. Touching a hand to the already forming bruise, Doc looked at the now open door across from him. Henley smirked widely before pulling the door closed.
"What the...?" Doc muttered, only to be punched from behind, turning just in time to see Henley shut the door again. From his position in the middle of the hallway, Doc stood up straight and looked around to scan his area around him. He slowly strummed each of the strings on his guitar, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath in an attempt to clear his head. From behind a door, Henley smirked and opened the door for another attack. Doc didn't try to stop it, feeling a punch at his chest, then his arms, then his face. The whole time, Doc who remained still, until his eyes shot open. "There, American Pie!" Doc yelled out, turning around and summoning his Stand, which threw a quick punch directly into Henley's face. Henley fell back into the room and held his cheek, looking up in confusion.
"How the hell did you know I was gonna be there?" Henley asked, slowly standing up. For the first time, his expression seemed serious, though it quickly turned to annoyance when Doc remained silent. Seeing this, Doc gave a small smile.
"That's one secret I won't be telling you," Doc said, strumming a few notes from his guitar. American Pie turned its speaker up, blasting a sound wave towards Henley. As the noise washed over him, he grit his teeth and covered his ears in a useless attempt to handle the attack. Henley gritted his teeth and, thinking quickly, kicked the door shut, leaving Doc alone in the hall again.
Doc scanned the hallway, trying to anticipate Henley's next move. But as a sudden force blasted into his back, Doc was knocked forward. He caught himself, turning around to realize it was his own attack.
"Wow, your Stand sure packs one hell of a punch. Here, let me show you what I can do," Henley said, waving cheerfully at him before showing a handful of nails in his fingers. He threw them before the door in front of him closed. Doc's eyes widened when he realized what was happening, but it was too late. All around him, doors opened. Nails shot towards him from every angle, burying themselves in his arms and back.
Blood poured from the deep marks along his body. Doc gasped, but managed to remain standing. His eyes searched around to see Henley standing there near a doorway. The man smirked at him. "What's wrong? Don't you want to blast my eardrums out?"
"I'm not that stupid," Doc growled, summoning American Pie and having him launch numerous punches towards Henley. Yet the man kicked the door closed, and much to Doc's dismay, he couldn't stop American Pie in time. The punches connected, and as Doc felt the force of every punch return to him in one moment, he was launched back into the wall with a groan.
Doc slid halfway to the floor, and only barely dug his hands into the wall to keep himself from falling the rest of the way. With a guttural growl, he slowly forced himself to his feet. Sweat dripped down his face, and his eyes flickered around in search of his enemy.
Yet he didn't need to search far; a door opened right next to him. "I have to say, for a weak link, you're pretty tough," Henley said before unleashing his own onslaught of punches. He slammed a fist into his face, his chest, back to his face. Blood pouring from his nose, Doc was thrown across the room with a pained cry. As he hit the wall with a thud, Henley walked leisurely from his hiding place, smiling widely at him. "But you're still that weak link in this fight."
Henley reared back a fist to finish him off, only to see Doc give a tiny smile. He saw movement from the corner of his eye, and just managed to turn his head in time to see American Pie release a scream from its mouth speaker. The sound hit him like a truck, launching him across the hallway. Blood dripping from his ears, Henley got up and looked at the weakened Doc, who was struggling to rise up as well.
Their eyes met, and for a while, the only sound was their panting. Finally, Doc said, "I-I won't let you take them."
Henley looked at him, bloodied and slumped against the wall and barely conscious, and gave a disgusted sneer. He walked towards him and slammed a fist into his stomach. Doc bent over, struggling to breathe, only for Henley to follow up with a knee to his face. His head snapped back, and Henley took the chance to push him against the wall, a forearm pressed against his neck.
"I'm tired of this shit coming from you punks," Henley said. He got a few inches from Doc's face, glaring at him as he choked. "You don't know loyalty."
Throwing Doc to the floor, he let out a light sigh, and slowly pulled his back hair in an attempt to fix it. He looked down at the gasping Doc, who was struggling to get up, and seemed to think for a moment. Henley decided to dig a foot into his stomach, knocking the wind from him once again.
"Your resolve is up there, but you need to face facts. I had your number from the start," Henley said, walking towards one of the doors across from where Doc laid. He gingerly touched the knob, turning to look at him as he said, "I'll let you see me take Mary to a special location before I snuff you out."
"N-no," Doc gasped, his struggles intensifying as he fought to just stand on his own two feet. Henley just watched as Doc rose to his feet, holding tight to the wall. He tried to approach Henley, only to nearly fall over when his hands left the wall. Henley laughed, turning to the door, where he could hear the faint sound of running water.
The sound was music to his ears. He paused, turning to the struggling Doc, who stared back at him with a desperate look. "You're about to get a great view at the spectacle before you die. Enjoy it." He sent a final smirk at Doc before turning back to the door and yanking it open. Only to get a fist to his face, which sent him to the ground with a hard thud. Henley looked up, his eyes widening when he saw John standing in the door with Lonesome Dove next to him.
"It finally took you long enough to open that door." John said. He walked out into the hall with Lonesome Dove, both of them looking down at the gaping Henley.
"Sorry, I guess I had to take a worse beating then I thought," Doc said, pushing himself off from the wall and stood tall in front of it, leaving Henley cornered between them. He slowly stood up, his mind frantically wondering just how this could have happened. His eyes traveled to the still open doorway and his eyes widened. There was a speaker on the door. His mouth opened to say something only for his cheek to start growing, courtesy of an air bullet being launched into it.
"It was his idea," John said, pointing to Doc and smiling. They both walked around to be in front of him while American Pie took the speaker back on his hand. John looked Henley over and then turned to Doc, asking, "You want the honor?"
"Sure. Let me just see how much of my pain I can pay him back for," Doc said, having American Pie twist the knob on its hand a few times. It clenched its fists tightly while the bubble in Henley's cheek continued to grow.
"SOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUND!" American Pie yelled out loud while unleashing an onslaught of punches. They hit Henley's body all over and launched him through a window. Henley screamed as he watched the ground come closer. When he finally hit it, the air bullet popped and blasted part of his face off. Henley laid on the ground, his cheek now missing and his eyes staring blankly into the distance.
The duo looked at him from the room. "You did great," John said. He smiled at Doc and slapped his back, making him wince and give an annoyed look. John smiled nervously. "Sorry, forgot." They then heard a scream and they looked out, their eyes widening seeing a massive amount of blood was pouring from his body and they felt it was more than it should be. "We need to get the others." John said and Doc nodded, leaving together to collect the others in their group.
A little while later, they were all together in Kite's room, with Kite himself looking at all of them. As Mary was in the middle of healing Doc's body while Kite thought over what he had heard.
"So, I guess we can't take a break at any time. Ever. How reassuring," he said dryly, looking at all of them. In particular, he looked to Doc, who was getting healed up by Mary. "I might also be glad that you're alright." John's eyes turned to look at him from across the room, giving a disapproving glare at Kite.
"Thanks, but I have bigger news for you." Doc said, seemingly ignoring Kite's phrasing. He summoned American Pie, which had both speakers in its hand. Doc looked at all of them before saying, "I put the right speaker by the phones in case something happens. And, well...let's just say I heard something." American Pie turned the knob on its mouth and began to reveal the news.
"Yeah, I got them here and have it planned out." Henley's voice came from the speaker and they all leaned forward to listen closely as he continued. "Yeah, secure the girl first before taking them out. I know how to do this. Believe me, Clearwater will be good-as-new in no time."
They all sat back, each feeling a pressure bearing down on them. With that message, the threat of the Major, this Clearwater, had become so much more immediate. Glances went around the room before everyone focused on Kite, who was leaning back in his chair. He gazed at all of them closely, only speaking when he was sure American Pie's message was over
"I guess we now know who we're after. Mary, does the name Clearwater sound familiar?" he said, looking at Mary, who had just finished healing Doc. Even now, she was writing down what they had heard.
"I need to run this with my contacts, but a name is a name. Either way, we can use this," Mary addressed them all. They nodded in agreement, so she continued, "But they might suspect that we know and could plan even worse attacks in the future." As they discussed, none of them saw a figure near the window. Watching them.
TBC.
That is it for this chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading it, please leave a review and the poll shows this will be a series starting with John Jonas.
