The group had traversed the rest of the Proving Grounds and were now standing in front of a large elevator, large enough to hold all of them.
"Everyone, listen well." Tenenbaum said. "Fontaine is now laying things all on the line, as you say. He is splicing himself with a massive amount of ADAM. But… this ADAM. It's not like anything I've ever seen in research. It's been altered."
"So does that mean…?" Aqua asked.
"It's Zenos. He corrupted Fontaines ADAM and he's likely turned him into an Unversed by now." Ethox said.
"Or, it could be X's doing." Tanya said. "That bastard could've also gotten involved and mixed his power with the ADAM, and asa result, Fontaine is now a Heartless."
"Well, whatever he is, we still need to take him down." Johnny said. "Come on, let's go get this son of a bitch."
(Cue: Unforgettable (w/Build-Up)- Kingdom Hearts 3)
The group entered the elevator, rising up as it headed to the highest point in Rapture.
"Hard to believe it's only been a day or two since you all showed up." Fontaine said over the radio. "I'd been with Johnny for years, plannin' my comeback against Ryan. But then you showed up, and twelve hours later, I've got Rapture in the palm of my hand. Johnny was my ace in the hole, but you Fatebreaker guys were a real royal flush. Thanks a bunch… for helpin' me pull of the biggest con I've ever pulled."
"A mistake we will correct." Mirror Match said. "You can splice yourself with all the ADAM in the world. It will not save you."
"Y'know, it's too bad it had to come to this. You guys felt like great pals, and Johnny…he was the closest thing I've ever had to a son. And that's why this hurts. Betrayal, kids. Life ain't strictly business." Fontaine said before his radio cut out, as they heard the transformation continue.
"You must use a Little Ones needle to drain the ADAM from Fontaine as you fight. It is the only way to defeat him." Tenenbaum said.
"Do we even have one?" Michiru asked.
"I have one." Sally said holding one.
"That needle… it's the same one we saw you use when we first got here." Ethox realized. "You never let go of it."
"I can't." Sally said. "The longer I've been with you, the more I've wanted to let it go, but I couldn't when I tried. But now I'm glad I didn't!"
"...Right." Kazuma said, his eyes displaying a feeling of pity.
The group finally arrived to the top floor, where they saw Fontaine, or what they assumed to be him, hooked up to a machine. His body had been transformed into a huge, gold-skinned humanoid whose arms were burning, frozen over, and sparked with electricity all at once. His appendengendes seemed to split into two and reform sporadically, and his head had both a hornet nest and wires poking out of it. On his chest was emblazoned the symbol of the Unversed. The abomination Fontaine had become wrested itself from the machine and stood on the floor.
"Come and get it, mooks!" Fontaine challenged.
The ADAM in the Garden of Rapture
Atlas Shrugged
Ethox tightened his headband before looking to the residents of Rapture. "Johnny, B, Sally, Peach? The Sun and surface are waiting for us at the end. Let's reach out and take it with out own hands!"
Peach nodded, putting down his welder's mask and getting his grenades. "Oh I'm ready for this, Ethox. I'm ready!"
"Go get him, Mr. B!" Sally egged the Big Daddy on, Mr. B roaring, light red and drill spinning.
"A man chooses, huh?" Johnny recalled, leveling his pistol. "Well…here's my choice!"
Atlas roared before throwing out fireballs from both hands like a world class pitcher. The group evaded as the fireballs blasted all over the room.
"He's overloaded on ADAM! Wear him down, then when he goes to recharge, jab him with the needle to drain him! We're gonna need to do this four times!" Ristarte said.
"Right! Time for phase one!" Ultra said as he, Necroapache, Legolia, Matheus, and Visha stepped up. They started their assault with Matheus using a low-powered explosive spell to hit the Unversed in the face, sending him stumbling back.
With a yell of hatred, Fontaine unleashed a wave of flames at the group, only for it to seemingly have no effect.
"Hypnosis and Target Dummy really go hand in hand!" Ultra said from behind where Fontaine was standing, making him spin around to see Necroapache and Visha descending on him, the Lizardman slashing him with his Sickle Blade as Visha blasted him back with Explosive Spells and Cyclone Bullets.
"Get Stung, Fontaine!" Legolia said, firing an Insect Arrow at Fontaine dead center, hornets swarming him.
"Ahh! Get them off me! Ahh! No! Ahh! Ahh!" Fontaine yelled as he tried to shake the hornets off before he vanished reappearing at the machine. "Need a minute… then, I'm gonna cut you all into bits."
"Now! Johnny, jab him with the needle and take some of his ADAM!" Ethox said.
Johnny quickly ran over to Fontaine and stuck the needle into him, draining some of his ADAM. However, the young man was blown back when the Unversed leapt out of the machine.
"Time to put you punks on ice!" Atlas Shrugged yelled as he started throwing ice balls at the group, attempting to freeze them in place. Seiya countered one sent at him with a Fireball.
"You suck in a fight, bro. Let's get this done." Seiya said as he was joined by Nemo, Le Kraken, Molotok, and Mr. B. "50% Maximum Inferno!"
The flames engulfed Fontaine, making him scream in pain before he leapt out of the flames. "Huff, huff…it's gonna take more than that to take me out!"
"Then allow us to provide!" Le Kraken declared as he pulled out all six of his swords, as he and Molotok charged, Nemo providing covering fire with some ESP-thrown knives.
The knives plunged themselves into Fontaine's chest, making him grunt as he met the two Beastmen's charge head-on, locking arms with Molotok in his Origin Beast form.
"Smert' tebe, zmeya!" Molotok roared as he performed a headbut on Fontaine, disorienting the man long enough for Le Kraken to perform a spin-attack on him, sending him further back.
"You think those little things are gonna hurt me?!" the Unversed demand.
"No, they were merely to get you three feet back." Le Kraken replied.
Fontaine was then hit with 120 pounds of rotating steel as he was impaled by Mr. B's drill, roaring in pain as the drill did its work. Fontaine vanished and reappeared at the machine once more.
"You think you got a shot at this? I'm barely gettin' started!" Fontaine declared as more ADAM was pumped into him, healing the drill hole up, but opening him up for Johnny to stab and drain more ADAM. When the Unversed broke free from the machine once more, his whole body coursed with electricity. "I'll fry you idiots into nothing!"
"Just try it, jackass!" Grantz said as he, Kazuma, DJ, Koeing, and Peach came out for the third round. "
"I've been waitin' a long time for this, Fontaine!" Peach said tossing Frag Grenades at Fontaine that impacted his mutated and morphed body.
"Vooren, the grenades!" Koeing said as he aimed his rifle at one. "When they get close, let's hit 'em with Explosive Spells, and add a little extra blast!"
"Right!" Grantz agreed as the two fired the spells as two grenades, creating two large blasts that sent the conman reeling.
"Sato, I slice, you ice!" DJ said as he ran towards Fontaine, saws at the ready.
"Huh?! Oh, right, I get it!" Kazuma realized as he followed close behind, seeing DJ cut into Fontaine's chest with his saws. "Winter Blast Freeze!"
The adventurer directed the cold blast into the wounds DJ had created, sending ice into the man's bloodstream.
"Blood flow getting a bit slow there, Atlas?" DJ asked. "Yeah, that can lead to some bad stuff: like being unable to concentrate, aches in the arms and legs… and fatigue."
Fontaine struggled to get up, breathing heavily. In desperation, he got back to the machine to get more ADAM.
"Catch my breath… then, I'm gonna bury you and all them little eggs." Fontaine said, before Johnny stuck him with the needle once again.
"You're running out of ADAM, Fontaine." Johnny said. "Face it. You're finished."
"Finished…?" Fontaine repeated until his eyes glowed a bright yellow color. "Frank Fontaine doesn't call it quits until he's cashed in!"
Fontaine broke free from the machine and slapped Johnny away, sending the young man sliding into the back wall.
"You think it's over just because this hunk of junk is runnin' dry?" Fontaine demanded. "News flash, bozos! There's still one source of ADAM in this room, and you all only drained part of the tank! Now… I'll just help myself to the rest!"
Fontaine then made a beeline straight towards Sally.
"Sally! Everyone, stop him!" Ultra asked as various members of the group rushed towards Fontaine, only for the man to jump above them and aim a downward fist straight towards the Little Sister.
"Come here, you little brat!" Fontaine roared as he threw the punch…
Sally saw the fist coming.
Sally felt herself being pushed.
Sally heard the rupturing of flesh, but she didn't feel it was her own.
Sally opened her eyes… to see Peach Wilkins standing where she had been moments before.
"PEACH!" the group yelled in shock and fright.
"AAAAAGH! You worthless nobody!" Fontaine said. "You'd really give yourself up just for a freak?!"
"Coming from the guy… who made them freaks in the first place?..." Peach asked. "That's a laugh…"
The former smuggler then pulled out something from his pocket: one Final Frag Grenade.
"See ya in Hell, Frankie." Peach said as he jammed the explosive straight into Fontaine's face, setting it off and sending him flying back.
"AAAUUUGGHH!" The Unversed clutched its face in pain before pulling it back to reveal that half of its face was gone, revealing an inky-black shadow underneath "DAMN IT! You think I'm down! I still got enough ADAM to keep on goin'! Your little switcheroo won't mean jack-shit!"
"No." Ethox said as he, Michiru, Mirror Match, Tanya, and Johnny stepped up. "His sacrifice will mean everything. You're going to be defeated by Peach…and us… and Lizzie!"
(Song Change: Uncontrollable - Xenoblade X)
Fontaine growled, gripping his hands as his ADAM enriched veins began pulsing, before he roared, radiating with Fire, Ice and Lighting. "I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"
Fontaine charged the group, firing a Plasmid infused punch, only to hit a wall made of black crystal, shattering it.
"You think yourself a King? Hardly." Mirror Match said. "Kings don't only take for their own greed! They give as well!"
Tanya used her flight pack to gain the height advantage over Fontaine, unloading spell infused bullets onto him.
"You and Ryan are more similar than you care to admit." Tanya said. "Ryan's philosophy of the great not being constrained by the small… you are a living embodiment of it."
Michiru rushed up to Atlas Shrugged, using his transformation ability to give herself wolf claws which she used to slash at Fontaine across his Unversed emblem.
"But that idea of thinking is totally wrong!" Michiru said. "Making something of yourself is important, but if it comes at the expense of others, then you'll lose your empathy!"
From behind her, Ethox and Johnny stood ready, the latter charging up his Electro Bolt while the Nobody prepared his Keyblade.
"And empathy is what makes us human!" Ethox declared. "It's true that a man can choose and a slave can only obey, but…"
"If we're the ones making the choice, then…" Johnny added.
"...we'll free the slaves from people like you!"
Fontaine growled. "I can't believe you're sayin' this ta me, with him!" he said, gesturing towards Johnny. "I had you built! I saved you from bein' another tool for Ryan! I raised you like my son, showed you what you was, what you was capable of! Even that life you thought you lost to Splicers, that was something I dreamed up and had tattooed inside your head. Now, if you don't call that family, I don't know what is!" Fontaine yelled.
"You may have created me, and built me like a slave to obey and throw away when you were done… but I decide how to live my life. Ryan said a man chooses, a slave obeys. Well I'm no slave anymore, and I dont obey! I'm a man! And I choose what I do, where I go, and who my family is! And you sure as Hell ain't part of it!" Johnny declared as he and Ethox nodded to each other. Together, they launched projectiles at Fontaine, a water rat bullet from Ethox, and a lightning bolt from Johnny. The two attacks hit Fontaine at the same time, causing him to be heavily electrocuted, the Unversed screaming and dropping to his knees and hands.
(Song End)
Fontaine panted as he struggled to get up, smoke coming off his cracking body. "You…haven't won yet. I…I can still-" the conman tried to say before he was jumped on by none other than Sally, holding her needle.
"Kill him! Kill the bad man!" Sally yelled as she plunged the needle into Fontaine's back. Suddenly, dozens of Little Sisters appeared, all of them stabbing at Fontaine with needles. Despite his best efforts, he was too weak, too tired out to get them off. Frank Fontaine fell onto his back as the little girls continued to stab him. Within moments, he was dead.
The group looked at the bizarre, yet strangely satisfying sight of a mutated man being murdered by children.
"Well…" Aqua said. "I guess we won."
"Yeah…Yeah!" Nemo said, perking up. "We won, gang!" he cheered.
"Y-Yeah…w-we finally got the bastard…" Peach coughed weakly from the back wall, propping himself up in a sitting position.
"Oh no, Peach!" Rista said as she raced over to the man's side. "Don't worry, I can heal you back up-"
"D-Don't." Peach spoke up, surprising her. "J-Just enough to make it to the surface."
"Wait, how're we gonna get to the surface from here?" Kazuma asked. "He'll never make it to the nearest Bathysphere!"
"Well, how do you think the Little Sisters got up here?" a voice called out at Admiral Whirlpool walked up. "C'mon, everyone else is on board the main sub! Tenenabum and that tree lady are on yours with the Sisters, so Rapture's all empty! Time to blow this place ocean deep!"
Soon, the two submarines were swimming away from Rapture, the groups watching the city from the windows.
"Nothing left but corpses and broken dreams…" Admiral Whirlpool said, holding a detonator. "We planted explosives on the city's supports; all of them. So now…"
The admiral pushed the button, several explosions going off underneath the city.
(Cue song: La Mer - Bioshock Infinite Burial at Sea, Part 2)
The buildings groaned and creaked and their supports were gone. Then, one by one, the buildings of Rapture fell.
The Medical Pavilion, with all its cosmetic and nightmarish surgical practices, gone.
The trees of Arcadia, washed away.
The works and name of Sander Cohen in Fort Frolic, lost to the depths.
Andrew Ryan, a man with a dream of total freedom, his body now at the bottom of the ocean, a victim of both his own son and the end result of his ideals, used against him.
Rapture…was no more.
(Tenenbaums Narration)
They were offered the city… and they refused it.
And what did they do instead? They destroyed it.
I have done terrible things in that city, things for which I may never be able to atone. However, as me and my little ones step out into the sun…perhaps I may be able to start anew.
The group stood around Peach Wilkins, the man smiling as he took his one and only look at the sun and the surface, from the steps of the lighthouse.
"Heh… I almost forgot how it looked…" Peach said, smiling. "Ain't it just…the darndest, most beautiful thing…?" he asked before he breathed his final breath, still smiling as he died.
Only one did not live to tell his tale. Of all the men of Rapture, I did not expect the one known as Peach Wilkins to earn my respect, but being among the Fatebreakers changed his view on life, and of himself. In the end, he died to save Sally, and for this, I shall remain forever grateful to him.
But not exclusively.
The group watched as the second sub surfaced, carrying Tenenbaum, Langford, and the Little Sisters under the doctor's care.
"Hey, welcome back to the surface, everyone!" Ethox waved with a smile. "I think you're all going to like it up here!"
"So, what's going to happen to them?" Michiru asked.
"Well, we can't bring them all back to the guild, Cobalt will have a heart attack if we do." Rista said.
"Don't worry, we've got it all planned out." Admiral Whirlpool said. "There's an orphanage that takes in children with special abilities. Mental conditioning isn't a usual thing for 'em, but I'm sure the guy in charge can handle it. He's got a Parasyte in him, everything after that is pretty easy…"
"And what about me and Tenenbaum?" Langford asked.
"Well, Tenenbaum is obviously gonna stay with her Little Ones. But I think I know a place where you can go, Langford." Ethox said. "Your Lazarus Vector is amazing. Being able to revive trees and plants after death is a breakthrough in Biology. You should take your talents to All Science Go, and share your Vector with them."
"Dark Garden has a few moles in ASG - JUST for observation, we don't actually steal from them!" Soran said quickly. "I'm sure a few of them can get you an interview."
"And last but not least…" Johnny said as he, Sally, and Mr. B stood alongside them.
"We want to join you!" Sally interrupted. "We want to go on adventures, see the worlds!"
"Really? Uh… I get Johnny, but why you and Mr. B?" Kazuma asked.
"Mr. B told me stories!" Sally explained "Stories about the surface, the worlds!"
"Huh?!" Aqua and Ristarte exclaimed.
"Sally! Don't tell me the big guy's actually been to the surface before, has he?!" Legolia asked.
"Wait a second…" Ultra pondered, before he slapped his head in remembrance. "The first Cross-Zone Crisis, of course! That's why I remembered hearing about you! You're the same Big Daddy that was Yu Narukamis partner!"
Mr. B roared, as if to say "yes, that was me!"
"Uh-huh! Mr. B told me about him! He's always told me tales about a silver haired boy with a sword and has a Mr. Bubbles of his own protecting him!" Sally said.
"...That is an oddly cute way of describing a Persona." DJ remarked.
"Well, I guess the three of us are sticking together then!" Johnny smiled, ruffling Sally's hair. "Don't suppose your brother would have any objections, Ethox?"
"Nope! Theo loves welcoming new people into the guild!" Ethox said. "You'll fit right in!"
"So, mission complete!" Ultra said. "Guess this means we're heading to China?"
"...Not quite." Ethox said, his smile falling. "We've got one stop to make first."
"Well, guess we better get going then." Nemo said.
Saying their goodbyes to Tenenbaum, Langford, the Little Sisters, and the Dark Ocean leaders, the group made their way onto the Horizon, Molotok carrying Peach's body.
"Alright, let's hit the-" Nemo said, before he stopped, seeing two-out-of-place things in the Horizon: Tida, and a cryo-tube. "Oh, hey Tida."
"Hi, Nemo." Tida replied. "So, I was thinking about what you told me, back in Rapture." the mermaid said. "And I've decided to call off our wedding. Instead…I'm gonna be joining you guys so I can start learning to live for myself. And I'm not taking no for an answer!"
"Hmm, it's the first I've heard of it." Le Kraken said, looking at Nemo.
"Captain, I can explain…" Nemo started.
"Pas besoin! Tida is more than welcome!" Le Kraken said. "We will have to get you a weapon, however…"
"Oh, don't worry, I brought my own." Tida said, pulling out a trident. "This'll work, right?"
"...Yeah, you'll be fine." Nemo chuckled. "What's in the ice trunk?"
"I dunno, it was here when I showed up." Tida said.
Ethox walked over to the cryo-pod, finding a note on it.
"Found her when we first arrived. She struck me as someone who didn't belong there, so we took her out. Can't stop for a burial, so please give her a funeral for us. Whirlpool." Ethox read. "I guess we'll do just that."
"So, where are we going before Beijing?" Kazuma asked.
"...Home." Ethox said. "So we can remember them."
The Adventure Universe, Town of Tales…
The group watched as Molotok and Seiya carefully lowered the casket into the ground. After they did so, the group used shovels to fill the whole it had been placed in. Eventually, the managed to cover the hole, stamping it flat.
"Well, it's no fancy memorial, but it'll do." Kazuma said as they observed the tombstone.
He Found What He Was Looking For
Peach Wilkins
R.I.P.
"Rest in peace, Peach." Ethox said sadly as the group silently mourned their friend.
"Glad we're heading to the Olympics, I think we all need a pick-me-up after that mission." Grantz said.
"Yeah…" Ethox agreed. "Come on, we better get ready."
The group started to make their way back to the guild hall to get ready to depart, only for Ethox to stop when he noticed Johnny, Sally, and Mr. B standing in front of another grave, Sally humming the same song she had sung back in Tenenbaum's hideaway.
"You guys ready?" Ethox asked, walking over to them.
"Just a few moment moments." Johnny said. "You know, I never met her. It's a damn shame she died."
"Lizze would've liked to meet you." Sally said. "She said you were special. She was right."
"Yeah. I guess so." Johnny said as he, Sally and Mr. B headed off to join the others as they headed to Beijing. The scene then closed with a close-up of the tombstone, revealing the full name of the mysterious lady to rest.
The Songbird Flies Free For Eternity
Elizabeth DeWitt
R.I.P.
(Ending Song: La vie en Rose - Edith Piaf)
The End