Apollo Square…
"I can NOT believe you!" Admiral Whirlpool yelled at Pressure Washer, the two having gathered a crowd of Dark Ocean members. "I gave you specific orders! Do not engage the Fatebreakers unless absolutely necessary! And what do you do?! You go lead a direct offense against them!"
"Hey, those pricks had it-" PW started to retort.
"YOU WILL SPEAK WHEN I GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK!" Whirlpool roared, his voice akin to a tsunami, silencing PW. "Not only did you cost us one of our submarines, rendering your whole trek to the market moot, but you cost us half of a platoon! And for what, payback for them drenching them with water?! Everytime you disobey my instructions, crap like this happens! I honestly expected you to learn this by now!"
"You calling me a dumbass?" PW asked, sounding angry.
"I will call you whatever I damn well feel like calling you, Washer!" Whirlpool countered. "Now, you listen to me: the only reason you were made a sub-commander of Dark Ocean is because the Dark Star protocol somehow decided that you would fit into the role. Either it saw something I don't, or it got it wrong and frankly, I'm leaning more towards the latter."
"Now, as much as I want you, I cannot demote you until we return to Dark Garden." the admiral continued. "If you can get through the rest of this operation without causing any more setbacks, then maybe, maybe, I'll reconsider. But if you do cause any more problems for us, then I just might have to leave some dead weight behind. Am I clear, sub-leader?" he growled.
"...Crystal." PW growled as well.
"Good." Whirlpool said before he turned to the rest of the troops. "Now, the Fatebreakers are heading towards Hephestus as we speak, which means they're close to confronting Ryan. Once he's out of the picture, they'll most likely be coming for us next, so I want everyone both here and in other parts of Rapture to wrap up their actions and come back here: we've got a good haul, so it's time to start packing up. I want everyone that's out back here in Apollo Square within the hour. Get moving!"
"Yes, sir!" the Dark Ocean members confirmed as they went about to prepare evacuations.
"Sir, Soran's on his way back from Fort Frolic." a grunt came up to him. "And DSD is taking out the few remaining Big Daddies in Rapture. I'd say that except for the ones rescued by the Fatebreakers and that Dr. Tennabaum, we have every single Little Sister in custody, save for the ones in Hephaestus."
"Alright, good." Whirlpool said. "We'll start trying to remove the slugs once we've gotten out of here." he confired before he had a thought. "Wait… where's L?"
"L? He said you sent him to Hephaestus with DSD." the grunt said. "Something about it being the endgame? He said you ordered us not to follow him."
"...Oh no…" Whirlpool realized with dread.
The Fatebreakers surfaced the stolen sub in Hephaestus at last, weapons upgraded back in Fort Frolic. They arrived in the district's Bathysphere terminal, ready to fight.
"It's time to run the table, or go home empty. Ryan's got the genetic Key to Rapture. We get that from him, and we get out of this hellhole. We don't, then were all ghosts." Atlas asid.
"Yeah, no pressure." Grantz said.
"Once we shut down this place and kill Ryan, that's it? That's the end of Rapture?" Ethox asked.
"Aye." Atlas confirmed. "Once we get that genetic key, we can use it to override Ryan's control over Rapture. Once we do that, we can get everyone together, activate the self-destruct, then get out while this damn place becomes a pile o' scrap."
"Alright then! Let's go!" Ethox said as the fatebreakers headed out.
"Go on, we'll be along shortly!" Atlas said as the group exited the terminal.
"You're not going with us, are you Atlas?" Johnny asked.
"Nah, boyo, I've gotta stay back. Ryan wants me dead, an' he'll probably be expectin' me. Sides… you're gonna be the one to kill Ryan. Not those blokes."
"Huh? Why me?" Johnny asked.
"Because… I need it to be you. We couldn't tell the others this…but you've got more connection to Ryan than anybody else in this place."
"Atlas… what're you talking about?" Johnny asked.
Atlas looked at Johnny. "Nevermind that. You've got work to do. Now…" Atlas said going in close to him. "...Would you kindly head to Ryan's office, and kill that son of a bitch… It's time to finish this. And don't let the others hear a breath o' this talk, okay?"
"...Okay." Johnny agreed, almost robotically, before he turned around and went to join the rest of the group.
The Fatebreakers headed into the main area of Hephaestus, and looked out at the view from the glass tubes. Everywhere you looked, the area was filled with machinery and plated with heavy metal. The machines seemed to go deep into the ocean floor as well.
"Whoa…Ryan's somehow managed to harness energy from Geothermal Vents down here!" Ultra noted. "This must be the place with the most technology from other universes."
"Im glad you admire it." Ryan communicated.
"And there's the man himself." Gimilor said.
"I see Cohen's lost his touch. Along with his head." Ryan noted.
"Don't remind us of that maniac. We had to go through a lot of his BS just to get here. We were gonna let him live, but Soran dropped the bombshell that he was selling Little Sisters away to people down here to do unspeakable labors." Ethox said seriously. "And of course, I'm sure you did nothing to stop him as long as he kept stroking your ego."
"So you found out about that detail… yes, when I found out about it, perhaps I too, was sickened by it." Ryan said. "But this is a city where people are free to pursue their interests."
"Don't you understand the consequences of that? If you let people have that much freedom without limits, their interests grow darker and darker. They'll become more and more demented, craving more things to experience euphoria. And, sooner or later… they turn into monsters." Ristarte said. "And that fact was only solidified thanks to ADAM. The Little Sisters and Tenenbaum, Dr. Stienman, Peach, your own citizens… and even Sander. All of them were exposed to what you gave them and it turned bad in a heartbeat! And yet, you're still claiming that Rapture is the best city in the Multiverse, even though it's falling apart before your eyes?!"
"You make it seem like I forced them to inject themselves with ADAM." Ryan said. "I never forced Steinman to start worshiping Aphrodite and mutilate the unwilling to his own delusions. I never forced Wilkins to hide himself away from Fontaine. Dr. Tenenbaum created the Little Sisters so that Rapture may prosper, but she chose to make them of her own violation. The state Rapture is in now is due to the hands of its own people's choices, not mine. That is the price for pulling on the Great Chain."
"You have your views, and we have ours. That's the short of it." Goblin Slayer said. "But we have our mission. We're coming in there and we're going to shut down your city, and end this."
"By all means…. See if you can make it." Ryan challenged the group as the radio fell silent.
Tanya then cocked her rifle. "...Let's get down to business."
The group then headed through the glass tubes surrounded by red boiling waters to Andrew Ryan's office.
After passing through a few rooms, fighting Splicers along the way, the group entered a large, skylightened hall, the way flanked by hanging corpses staked to the pillars.
"What is this place?" Megumin asked, looking scared.
"My guess? The room where Ryan keeps his personal trophies. These are all the people who have come before us and tried to kill Ryan." DJ said.
"A worm looks up, and sees the face of God!" Ryan chimed in again. "But Look around… it's regular convention of worms in here. They all had mothers, fathers, wives, people who loved them… and none of that saved them in the end. What makes you any different?"
"...We're not like these guys. We're here to take you down because it's the right thing to do." Ethox said. "We didn't say this to Atlas… but we aren't gonna kill you. We're gonna take you back to the surface, and you're going to answer for everything you've done."
"Wait, we are?" Johnny asked. "You know Atlas isn't going to like that."
"I know, but we aren't killers. Trust me, getting arrested on the surface would probably be a worse fate than death in Ryan's eyes. Isn't that right, Andy?" Nemo smirked.
"If you can manage it. I haven't chosen spots for you all on my wall yet… but I'm sure I can find some room." Ryan said.
"You know something, Ryan?" Ethox spoke up. "The person who showed you that other worlds exist… they'd be disgusted with what you've become."
"..." Ryan said nothing as the radio shut off.
Just then, the door on the other side of the room was being welded open as splicers burs through.
"Kill 'em all, then string them up like the others!" one said as they charged in, only to be swiftly vanquished.
"Rapture is coming back to life. Even now, can't you hear the breath returning to her lungs? The shops re-opening, the schools humming with the thoughts of young minds?" Ryan came back on. "My city will live, my city will thrive! And when that day comes, we'll use your tombstones for paving tiles."
"Spoken like a true madman." Tanya said.
The group approached the door to Ryan's office, only for it not to open.
"What is… hold on, this is some sort of electromagnetic lock." DJ noted. "We're not gonna be able to override the door, even with Johnny's Electro Bolt Plasmid."
"Then how're we gonna get it open?" Koeing asked.
"...we're gonna have to destroy Hepheastus's Core." Johnny said.
"Uh… one problem with that. The core of this place has gotta be huge. How are we gonna destroy it?" Neumann asked.
"We'll need some kinda huge explosion… like a bomb, or…" Johnny said before looking at Megumin. "Hey, Megumin?"
"Yeah?" Megumin asked.
"I think it's finally time to show me what you can really do." Johnny said.
"You mean…?" the young Crismon Demon asked, her eyes shining.
"Yup. It's time for you to bust it out." Johnny nodded.
"FINALLY!" Megumin yelled in delight. "I've been waiting to use my Explosion magic forever!"
"Johnny, can I take a moment and ask you: are you crazy?!" Kazuma asked. "If she uses Explosion in here-!"
"It doesn't matter. We have to get to Ryan, and this is the quickest way." Johnny said. "Take cover."
Megumin rushed to the room where the Core of Hephaestus was. "Under the veil of the darkest sea, in the cradle of nightmarish creation…!"
"Megumin, stop!" Ethox called out, chasing after her.
"...a world void of hope, shall now bear witness to the spark of a new future…!"
"Megumin, for once in your life, use some self-control…!" Kazuma yelled.
"...Behold, as the Great Chain cracks and breaks! Behold, the spell that shall harald the fall of the cursed city! Burst forth….!"
"Megumin, NO!" Ethox screamed.
"EXPLOSION!"
Megumin had reached the core, unleashing her spell upon it.
Now, normally, this spell is destructive enough on its own, capable of creating a crater matching that of an asteroid, and can even be capable of felling a B-Rank Demon Lord. But when you cast a spell that is the equivalent of a nuclear bomb at the bottom of the ocean, in a highly pressuried city made of steel, and mix it with volatile heavy machinery and tons of magma being channeled through said machinery…
*BOOM!*
In Apollo Square, every member of Dark Ocean felt the blast, and were thrown off balance as the city was shaken to its core.
"What the hell was that?!" Pressure Washer asked.
"Admiral! Commanders! You need to see this!" a grunt said as he pulled up security footage from one of their subs.
"My god…" Soran gasped when he saw what was on screen:
Roughly half of Hephestaus was gone. Where it once was, there was now a gaping hole, a hole that was quickly being filled by seawater and no-doubt terrified marine life.
"Wh…where did the rest of Hepheastus go?!" Pressure Washer asked.
"It was the Arch-wizard in the Fatebreakers! She casted her Explosion spell near the Core and caused….. that!" the grunt said. "Sir, L and DSD were in Hephaestus! We're trying to reach their comms, but we haven't gotten a response! What do we do?!"
"Move our evacuation into overdrive!" Whirlpool ordered. "And get a sub out there! Find DSD and L, NOW! If we don't act quickly, Rapture is going down… and us with it!"
"Yes sir!" the grunt said as he ran off, Pressure Washer meanwhile was stewing.
"(Screw evacuation! I ain't leaving… until those brats are dead on the ocean floor!)"
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the trench Rapture was located…
Tida saw the explosion with her own eyes, and was in shock.
"What are those adventurers doing in there?" she wondered out loud. "I know we asked them to destroy that place, but I thought they'd wait until they got back out before they tried!"
"By the looks of it… I'd say that city doesn't have long." another voice said as a few more mermaids were there as well. "We may have to go and save them, should things turn worse. You can't just leave your husband-to-be to die, can you?"
"Well, of course not, but… I don't think they're in need of help just yet." Tida said.
"How can you be so sure? That man, Ryan isn't the true enemy. He is. And he's probably pulling all their strings, and they don't realize it." the mermaid said. "We need to go and make sure he doesnt kill them once Ryan falls."
"...You're right. He can't win. That would just make things worse." Tida said. "Alright, get the whole gang together. We're going to get my guy, and his friends!"
Back in Hephaestus…
"Urgh…." Ethox said as he was holding a limp Megumin, seeing the damage caused by the explosion. "That… was… close. Had I been a second too late with my Ox Discipline, we'd have been fired."
"Are you two alright? What happened? Half o' Hephaestus just got wiped off the map!" Atlas called.
"Yeah… we're okay." Ethox said as he got outside of the core room, looking around. "Where's everyone else?"
"You were knocked out for a bit, so everyone moved on to Ryan's office. But there's more bad news. Ryan's set the remaining cores to self-destruct. This is different than what your friend did…he's got a mind to take down the whole damn city! Get ta Ryan's office and whack the chump before the whole joint blows!" Atlas said.
"I'm on it!" Ethox said as he carried Megumin through to the main control center of Rapture, and saw his team there. "Guys!"
"Oh, thank Harmony you're alive!" Mirror Match said in relief.
"Why are you guys here? Where's Johnny? Atlas said you all went ahead to Ryan's office." Ethox said.
"As soon as we tried to use the key we got from Cohen, Ryan managed to seal the door from the inside. He's cut us off from Johnny." Rista said.
"What?!" Ethox gasped, quickly passing Megumin to Grantz. "Here, hold her, I'm getting in there! Sealed or not, my Keyblade can get us in!"
The Nobody raced up the stairs to Ryan's Office, quickly using his Keyblade to open the door. The group then headed through the main bulkhead to Rapture's center control room.
"Which way is the office?!" Kazuma asked, looking around for a sign.
"Just start breaking down doors, we're on the clock!" Ultra said as he sent out Kartana and Buzzswole, the two Ultra Beasts breaking down every door within their range.
The group went to town on the place, breaking down doors to find the way to Ryan's office. Ethox slashed open one particular door.
"Okay, is it in-" Ethox started before he stopped, seeing what was inside the room.
"Hey, boss, what's the hold…up?" DJ asked, looking in to the room to see something odd:
It was a small workroom, nothing interesting in and of itself. However, on the far wall, there was a strange bulletin board covered with paper clippings and photographs of himself, Andrew Ryan, Jasmine Jolene (as well as her promotional poster), Frank Fontaine, Brigid Tenenbaum, and Yi Suchong, all connected with red strings, but most eye-catching of all: the words "Would You Kindly" written in red across it.
"What the heck is this…?" Ethox asked as he walked towards the board. "Where have I heard that before…?"
The Nobody then noticed a tape recording near the board. Picking it up, he pressed the play button, the recording starting with a puppy barking in the background.
"Is that your puppy? She's very pretty…"
"Thank you, Papa Suchong."
"Break her neck for me."
"What?"
"Break that sweet puppy's neck."
"No… please…"
"Break that puppy's neck - would you kindly…"
"No… no…"
The puppy was heard whimpering before a snap was heard.
"Very good."
"...Would…you…kindly…?" Ethox said, over and over, as if he was trying to remember. "Wait…"
"...would you kindly show them the way out of here?"
"Now, would you kindly go get that pass?"
"...would you kindly get a move on?"
"Johnny lad, would you kindly come along and watch me back?"
"Take the tweezers and put her out of her misery… would you kindly, Johnny?"
"Hey, here's an idea, would you kindly stop being a jerk?!"
"So that's it…" Ethox realized.
"So, you've noticed it too." Seiya piped in. "Those three words… they're an activation code. For Johnny."
"Wait, what?" Grantz asked.
"His brain has been psychologically tampered with. All the times Atlas said "would you kindly" to us? He was talking to Johnny. He was giving him direct orders, subtly. All obeyed by those three words." Tanya said.
"And that one time, back in Medical…" DJ realized. "I said it, when I told Atlas to stop being a jerk. Then… Johnny said we weren't killing the Little Sisters." the former assassin realized. "If… if I hadn't said that… then Johnny would've…would've… oh my god."
"Guys… if all this is here, then that means Ryan's the one who cooked up this order code from the start! Which means… which means…!" Aqua said.
"Johnny!" Ethox called out in fear as he raced through a door on the right, sprinting down the hallway towards what he hoped beyond hope he wasn't too late.
He stopped in front of an overpass, and saw Andrew Ryan himself… playing golf nearby a standing still, motionless Johnny.
"The adventurer has overcome my defenses, and now with his team, has come to take me away." Ryan said, putting a ball. "In the end, what separates a man from a slave? Money? Power? No… a man chooses. A slave obeys."
"Ryan… just stop." Ethox said. "Don't hurt Johnny…please"
"Don't worry… I'm not going to." Ryan said. "Let me ask you. Do you believe the story behind this man? About how he was orphaned from birth? You think he has memories. Death. Being alone. Being found by Atlas. Was he found? Or…was he taken? Was he really found by Atlas, or was he stolen? Was he really truly alone, or… did he have someone to call his father?"
Ethox put all the pieces together, just as the others arrived. "...All of it was a lie. Johnny's not an orphan. He's a son. Your son."
This shocked everyone, sans Seiya (as usual), who likely had it all figured out.
"WHAT?!" the rest of the group shouted in unison.
"Yes. This man is my son. But his name? It is not Johnny. His name… I had planned it to be Jack." Ryan said. "His mother made a mistake, trusted the wrong people, and it cost both of us. My son, my heir, was taken away from me, before I ever got to see him."
"Wait… that woman in Eve's Garden, Jasmine Jolene." Visha remembered. "She was your wife?!"
"Not officially, no." Ryan said. "But I loved her, all the same, she was only one of three women I ever did. I have very few regrets in my life… but losing my temper and taking her life is one of them."
"She was the one who gave birth to Johnny… I mean, Jack. You killed her, but she probably was expecting Jack. Killing her meant killing your unborn son." Ethox said.
This made Seiya shake his head. "Wrong, Scarface. The baby was already gone, sold off."
"And already implanted with that command you put in his brain." Tanya said.
"No." Ryan answered. "A man chooses, a slave obeys. I had nothing to do with that command."
"...You're not lying." Ethox realized. "But, if you didn't, then-"
"I think you already know." Ryan said. "Think, Fatebreakers: who has the most to gain from my fall? Who had the drive, the resources, the motivation to do something like this? Who, in this city, would willingly take an unborn man, and make him a slave from birth?"
"...Frank Fontaine, of course!" Darkness realized.
"Darkness, are you forgetting something? He's dead." Kazuma reminded.
"Is he?" Mirror Match asked. "We've been told he's dead. But has he ever been found as a corpse?"
"...I knew it!" Peach said. "I knew that sonova bitch was alive! Where is he? I'll rip him in two with my bare hands, that-"
"That's enough. Come with me. Would you kindly?" Ryan said, Johnny following his father as the two walked out of view.
"Wait, Ryan!" Ethox said as they followed him closely to another room.
"Stop. Would you kindly?" Ryan asked, prompting Johnny to stop. "Would you kindly. Powerful phrase. Familiar phrase?"
"...No. It can't be." Ultra realized, the revelation coming to the rest of the group as well.
"Sit, would you kindly." Ryan said, continuing to order Johnny around. "Stand, would you kindly? Run. Stop! Turn."
Ryan and Johnny were facing each other, as the father handed the golf club to his son.
"A man chooses. A slave obeys." Ryan repeated. "...Kill!"
"No way, is he…?" Kazuma asked.
"Johnny, no!" Ethox said.
But his pleas fell on deaf ears as Johnny struck Andrew Ryan with the golf club once, twice, three times…
"A man chooses… A slave obeys." Ryan said, getting up with his face bloody. "OBEY!"
Knowing that Ryan was sacrificing himself to Johnny, the Fatebreakers rushed and restrained Johnny before he could strike Ryan again.
"Johnny, stop, please!" Ethox cried as the group restrained him. "Fight it, Johnny, fight it!"
"Johnny, would you kindly get 'em off and finish the job?" Atlas' voice came over the radio.
Johnny obeyed, shaking them off… and delivering the final blow to Ryan, killing him.
"Now would you kindly take the genetic key and put it in that goddamned machine before the self-destruct goes off?"
Johnny took the key off of Ryan's corpse and took off, the group hot on his heels. They saw him insert the Genetic Key into the self destruct override inside the room. And that wasn't it. They saw Atlas in the room with all of them, clapping his hands.
"Nice work, boyo and co.!" he laughed. 'That's the end of ol' Ryan!"
"Atlas…why?" Lily asked, the group looking betrayed.
"There is no 'Atlas'." Seiya said.
"So… ya figured me out?" Atlas asked.
"There were three things that led me to confirm this." Seiya said. "One: the submarine bay. We all thought Ryan blew it up, but you were the one working those controls, and there weren't any signs of bodies in the wreckage. Two: your 'family'. Moria and Patrick."
Seiya pulled a poster out of his pocket and unfolded it, showing the names "Moria" and "Patrick" on them.
"There was never a family. You took these names from the poster." Seiya said. " And Third: you kept using that phrase. Would you kindly. ANd every time, Johnny agreed to whatever you said, unless someone else gave a command that canceled it out."
"Well then… guess we can end the masquerade then." Atlas grinned, his Scottish accent gone, replaced by the voice of a Bronx native. "You're right. There ain't no Atlas, gang. Never was. A fella in my line of work, he has to have a variety of aliases. Hell, once I was a china-man in the Warrior Universe for six months. But you've all been real sports, so I guess I owe you a little honesty."
He then grabbed his hair and removed it, revealing it to be a wig, as well as peeling off some fake skin, to reveal an entirely different man.
"The name's Frank Fontaine."
Everyone in the room gaped in shock.
"Fontaine!" Peach broke the shock and science. "Goddamnit, I should've known! You were keeping an eye on me the whole time, waiting for me to slip up, and when I did-"
"Huh? Oh, I honestly forgot you existed until these jokers ran into you." Fontaine said.
"All this time, we were doing your dirty work? How could we be so stupid?!" Kazuma asked.
"I gotta say, I've had a lotta business partners in my life, but you guys…" Fontaine said. "The fact that you guys came down here, that was probably the biggest ace in the hole I've ever gotten in my life. Course, the fact that you were willing to go to hell and back after hearing one little sob story was just the cherry on top."
"You used us… made us think a family was in trouble…" Ethox said. "You monster… to treat that concept like its a tool…!"
"And the best part? You didn't even know ol' Johnny here was genetically conditioned to bark like a cocker spaniel when I said 'would you kindly?'". Fontaine said. "Ol' deadeye there was the only guy to figure it out, and he didn't even bother to say nothing. Heh, thanks for keeping my hide clean all this time, Mr. Cautious Hero. Course… y'werent that cautious when it counted."
"What are you talking about?" Seiya asked.
"Oh, you think this is the first time you've been a hero?" Fontaine asked. "When you travel around as much as I do, you hear quite a few stories."
"Like what?" RIsta asked.
"Stories about heroes who don't save the day." Fontaine said. "Stories about heroes who thought they were big shots, then got reality thrown on top of 'em. But hey! I'm not as cruel as that, so tell ya what? I'll cut you all a deal."
"You must think you're crazy if you think we're going to believe you." Kazuma said.
"Oh, trust me, this is real." Fontaine said. "Those Dark Ocean guys, they're evacuating in Apollo Square. They're taking pretty much everything: weapons, research, Plasmids, even the freaks of nature you and the broad didn't get to. We work together to stop 'em, we split the haul 50/50, then you all go on your way. You get some nice trinkets to take home to those other guildmates of yours, and I get to run Rapture, tits to toes. Sound good?"
"...What about the Little Sisters?" Ethox asked.
"Ethox, don't try to make him answer, you know what he'll do to them. If we hadn't stopped Johnny from harvesting Sally, he would've ordered Johnny to harvest every single sister in this city." Michiru said.
"You're right. And we can't let that happen." Ethox said. "Sorry Fontaine, but no deal."
"Ah. I figured you guys would call it off. You've all been pals, but you know what they say….never mix business with friendship." Fontaine said, waving his hand as a swarm of Security Bots flew into the room. "Tell Ryan I said hello, would ya?"
"Crap! We gave him the Security Bullseye Plasmid while he was aliased!" Grantz said.
"So what?" Ultra asked. "We can handle these flimsy things!"
Just then, the bots stopped, all falling to the ground.
"Unfortunately, the Security Bullseye Plasmid does not protect tech from being hacked from another source." a new voice said as L walked into the room. "Hello Fatebreaks, Johnny, and…you must be Frank Fontaine."
"Well, well, well… if it ain't L. I thought ya might've been killed when that boom-happy wizard there destroyed the Geothermal Core with her fireworks, alongside your wannabe Big Daddy." Fontaine said.
"Oh, DSD is fine, he's waiting at the bottom of the ocean for his ride back to Apollo Square." L informed. "I, however, will not be joining him. This is where my story ends…"
"Uh…he's speaking cryptically, and I don't like it…" Nemo said.
L started twitching.
"I… urk… lost my medication during the blast. Not that it mattered, it was losing its effectiveness…" L coughed as his whole body started to shake.
"Uh, DJ, I don't suppose you know what his ability is?" Ultra asked.
"No. Not really. I always thought he was a normal guy." DJ said.
"Let me…ask you something. Do you know…what the L stands for?" L asked.
The man then looked up and opened his eyes, now a purely, sickly purple-ish color.
"LOVECRAFT."
Tentacles then sprouted from L's back as he let out a monstrous scream, his whole body morphing, twisting, bones breaking.
"Aw, shit… Johnny, would you kindly get us both outta here?!" Fontaine asked as he regained control of the Security Bots to have them attack the transforming L.
Johnny nodded, taking Frank's hand and running away.
"Guardian angel, wait!" Sally called out to him.
"Johnny!" Ethox cried.
As that was said, one of L's tentacles lashed out and smashed the glass panes close to the override machine, releasing water and flooding the whole room before the group could get their tanks on. L then lashed them all out into the open ocean, roaring as he - no, it - swam out, away from them and back towards another part of the city.
"(...I…'m…sorry…Th…eo… Joh…nny…)" Ethox thought as his consciousness faded.