What struck the Fatebreakers when they entered Apollo Square was how quiet and empty it was. There were no sounds of Splicers fighting over ADAM, no little bits and pieces for the group to scavenge, no nothing. The only thing that stood out in the area was the large amount of Splicer corpses lying around.
"Dark Ocean sure cleaned house here…" Grantz noted.
"Well, there's nothing to keep us busy… let's go." Michiru said as the group made their way through the sea of corpses, having an uneventful trip through the area… until they reached a platform that, at one point, seemed to be for hanging. Now, however, the group saw the Dark Ocean leaders sitting on the edge, a cage full of Little Sisters on the ground in front of the platform.
"It's eerie, isn't it? How quiet it is." Admiral Whirlpool started when they saw the group. "You know, besides us, Tenenbaum, Fontaine, Johnny, and a few Splicers still hungry for ADAM, I'm pretty sure Rapture is completely empty. Just like Andrew Ryan's promises."
"Didn't you get the memo? Ryan's dead. Fontaine's in charge now." Legolia said.
"All thanks to you." Whirlpool said. "You've made quite the mess, haven't you? Destroyed half of Hephaestus, getting Ryan killed by his own son… but, I guess you didn't know better. You were blinded by the thought of a family being torn apart."
"Yeah, we didn't see the bigger picture." Ethox admitted. "And now Fontaine's got everything he's wanted. But it's not over yet, we're going to right our wrongs, and stop him."
"Yeah, all for justice right? Y'know, I have a brother who believes in the code of Absolute Justice, held by that magma maniac, Akainu. Y'know, Fleet Admiral of the Marines in the New World of the Blues? My brother's almost as bad. He thinks he's doing the right thing, but he's well on his way to creating his own Oharas and Aces. He's the reason I became a criminal. lf that's what justice is, then I want none of that. I'd rather be a criminal with morals than a crimefighter who has none. So lemme ask you guys something. What's your justice? Uncertain, Absolute, or Lazy?" Whirlpool asked.
"... We're gonna go with none of the above." Ethox said. "We want to do the right thing. Not what justice says, not what any ideology says, but what seems like the best way to reach a happy ending. That's our justice. That's the justice we of the Fatebreakers, and everyone else in Mythos Hearts, and the Hero Alliance goes by."
"...Good answer." Whirlpool said with a genuine smile. "That's thinking I'd like every justice man to have. That being said, I know what you guys are here for. You're here for the Little Sisters DSD managed to get to before you did."
"That's right. We just want the Little Sisters. So, how about you hand them over to us, and we'll let you guys leave with the rest of the stuff you collected? I'm sure Dark Garden wouldn't do anything so horrid as harvesting ADAM from them." Ethos said.
"Well, I'd like to… but Dark Garden policy stats that we have to defend anything deemed useful to the organization, and ADAM is that." Whirlpool sighed. "Of course, if it was more trouble it was worth to keep them from you, I'd have to let them go."
"We understand." Ethox nodded. "We win, we get the Sisters."
"Pretty much." Whirlpool said as he, Soran, and DSD stood up and jumped down in front of the cage. "I'm not going to say something cliche like "come at me with everything you have", but… the meaning's there."
"Right." Ethox said as the Fatebreakers prepared for battle. "We'll give you a fight, and break the Little Sister's fate!"
(Cue: Outsider - EVE)
Dark Ocean Leaders
Anti-Fishman Karate Master - Soran
Strongest Man in the Sea - Deep Sea Diver
The Tsunami of Noble Crime - Admiral Whirlpool
The group charged at the three leaders as the battle began.
"Soran, Soran!" The similarly named man chanted as he swung his harpoon at Le Kraken, who blocked the attack with his swords.
"Comin' through, captain!" Nemo said, leaping off his tentacles and blasting knives at Soran with Telekinesis. The fisherman blocked them all and stuck at Nemo with his harpoon, but Nemo used his Plasmid to block, holding him in place.
"Molotok!" Le Kraken said.
"Take dis!" Molotok yelled, landing a direct hit on Soran with his hammer, sending the sub-leader rolling back.
"Haha! Now this! This is a truly worthy catch!" Soran laughed as he got up. "Anti-Fishman Art: Flying Fish Spearing!" he declared as he shot forward like a bullet, harpoon pointed forward.
"He's movin' too fast for me to stop!" Nemo said.
"But not for me!" Molotok replied as he bulked up, and gained red glowing eyes. In his Origin Beast-like form, he caught Soran, the two skirting back several feet. A trickle of blood flowed down Molotok's chest from where the tip of the harpoon had pierced it, but the Hammerhead Beastman stood.
With a roar, Molotok took the fisherman in his hands and threw him with all his might, sending him careening into the platform, sending it crashing to the ground.
"Ah…it seems this time…the catch gets away…" Soran remarked with a smile as he lost consciousness.
With DSD, he was duking it out with Mr. B, aided by Necroapache, Goblin Slayer, Seiya, and Darkness. The sub-leader grunted as he was nearly hit with the Big Daddy's drill, before he punched Mr. B, sending him tumbling back.
"Now it's my turn!" Darkness said, charging in and trying to do some damage to the diver, but per usual, all her swings missed, even when she presumably hit him. The sub-leader cocked his head to the side without a word, as if even he was perplexed by this.
"How are you missing, he's a big man in a diving suit!" Kazuma yelled at Darkness.
"But he's let his guard down, so we can do this!" Goblin Slayer said as he and Seiya came from behind. Seiya used Eternal Sword to cut into him multiple times, as Goblin Slayer went for a jab to his helmet, eye glowing through his own.
DSD grunted as he was pushed back by the attacks, taking several steps away. However, he looked no worse for wear as he prepared to strike again…only for him to be interrupted by a drill on a chain, which pushed him back even more, his hands clamped on the weapon.
"Wait, is that-?" Darkness pondered as the group heard the roar of Mr. B behind them, turning around to see that he was the source of the chained drill, his lights red.
DSD was holding onto the drill, his head cocking to the side once more as he internally wondered why it wasn't spinning. His questions were answered when Mr. B sharply raised his drill arm up, the chain, drill, and DSD all following suit.
The group were in awe as they witnessed the airborne scuba-diver before Mr. B brought his arm down hard, smashing DSD into the ground. When the dust of the impact cleared, DSD was lying in a crater in the ground, still conscious, if his movement was anything to go by, but clearly out of the fight.
"It seems that Sir Mr. B had a few surprises of his own." Necroapache noted, still surprised by what had just transpired.
"Since when could Mr. B do that?!" Aqua asked.
"Since always." Sally spoke up. "He's a special Mr. B."
"Yeah, that's one way of putting it…" Koenig said.
Two down, one to go. Admiral Whirlpool had conjured up a tornado made of water, facing the remaining Fatebreakers who had injected themselves with Plasmids, alongside Ethox.
"You're a pretty special guy! Definitely worthy to be called branch leader!" Ethox said.
"You're pretty special yourself, Nobody!" Whirlpool replied as he threw out pressurized waves of water. "Let's see if you're special enough!"
"Winter Blast Freeze!" Kazuma said freezing the waves one by one, allowing Ethox to shatter them. Victoriya then blasted him back with a few of her Cyclone Bullets.
"Not bad, Not bad." Whirlpool nodded. "Now, how about something bigger?" he asked as he threw the water tornado at the group, controlling it directly.
"Not so fast!" Ultra said, as he created a projection and sent out Nihilego at the same time. "Nihilego, Hypnosis!"
The Ultra Beast used the move to force Admiral Whirlpool to direct the whirlpool towards the projection and away from the actual group, while Legolia strung an Insect Arrow.
"Too bad you weren't smart enough to keep your shield up!" Legolia said as she fired the arrow, hitting the Admiral's hat and letting a swarm of bees come out and surround the Dark Ocean leader.
For his part, the admiral remained calm, sending out a burst of water to wash out to insects. He then saw Ethox running towards him, Keyblade pointed directly at him.
"The most powerful creature of all commands the Earth. Nature Dragon!" Ethox called as a green projection of an Eastern-style dragon emerged from the key, roaring as it approached the admiral.
Whirlpool shot at the projection with a stream of water, only for it to have little effect. "(Damn, water feeds wood!)" the admiral recalled as the dragon hit him head on, sending him flying back. He landed in front of the cage the Little Sisters were in, staring up at the tall ceiling of Apollo Square.
"...Yeah. The risk of these little girls…outweighs the reward. We can't keep these kids." the admiral smirked.
(End song)
Whirlpool shakily got up, aided by the unexpected hand of Ethox.
"Guess you guys won. The Little Sisters are all yours." Whirlpool said.
"Don't feel bad about your loss though. You guys are still keeping the other things you found around Rapture. All we want is to make sure this city doesn't cause any more pain. And that pain subsides, when we take down Fontaine."
"You're right. We've seen the pain of Rapture too. And even though we're on different sides, I think we can both agree that Fontaine needs to go." Whirlpool said. "You'll find him and Johnny at Point Prometheus, where they used to make the Little Sisters."
"Thanks. That's where we're going to end this." Ethox said. "We'll be taking Pressure Washers sub to get there. Oh, and no hard feelings but…. We kidna killed him. He sorta lost it."
"Eh. I never liked that guy anyway." Whirlpool shrugged, before he looked sad. "But L…you're gonna have to kill him too, aren't you?"
"...Yeah. I'm not sure if there's any way to save him. He's too far gone." Ethox replied, equally sad.
"I figured. You know… his ability came from the result of trying to artificially enhance him using the DNA of that freak from the Guild, H.P. Lovecraft. He had medication he used to keep his ability from activating, but… it was losing effect. I guess… this was always how it was gonna end with him." Whirlpool sighed.
"We'll make sure that he rests in peace." Mirror Match said.
"Thanks. Now go and stop Fontaine." Whirlpool said. "We'll get the Little Sisters to Tenenebaum and get 'em outta here."
"You got it. Alright everyone… let's get going to Point Prometheus." Ethox said as the group headed off, watched by Admiral Whirlpool.
"So, those were the Fatebreakers, huh?" the admiral thought to himself. "Are they making a new fate in this city… or were they part of a fate someone else saw? Something tells me… someone knew they would show up. But…who?" he wondered as his mind drifted back to a particular moment when Dark Ocean had first entered the city…
"Alright, I want a foothold in this Apollo Square by yesterday." Whirlpool commanded Dark Ocean as they entered the apartment building. "I don't care what kind of crazy things they got cooking down here, they're still behind on the times, so we got the advantage there. Use it."
"Sir!" a grunt called out as the admiral turned to see said grunt kneeling over the body of a young woman with black hair and blue eyes, blood caked on her forehead. It looked as though she had been killed by blunt force trauma to the head. "Body's still a little warm. I'd say she's only been dead a few hours."
The admiral's expression turned sympathetic as he looked at the woman's body. "Ah, poor girl… hey, we have a cryo-pod in one of the subs, right? Put her in it. She…She doesn't deserve to rot here."
"Yes sir." the grunt said as they picked her up and carried her away, the admiral watching until he could no longer see her.
"...Yeah, she died for something. And whatever it was…she succeeded. I could see it in her eyes." Whirlpool noted. "Don't know who she was, but I hope she knows… she did good."