Showdown
Tab worked in a slow methodical fashion. He was halfway through some stitches up the side of Garam's cheek.
Pausing, he glanced over at Slate. He was pretty pleased with his work. The GG now looked a lot more like Coin than Slate.
Coin had fallen from a high place in Grind City, thanks to the Golden Rhinos. The damage to his face had been so great that he'd sought the help of a failed plastic surgeon, and ended up as Slate. Kell's attack on his face had undone most of this work, and Tab saw no reason to stand in the way of fate.
Turning back to Garam, he carefully stitched the cut.
Suddenly he heard the door to Kell's 'interview room' open. He began to sweat, and stitched quicker. If he couldn't hide this, their advantage would be destroyed and everything would go horribly wrong…
"Tab…" hissed Piranha from the corner of her mouth. "She's coming…"
"I know…"
He heard the rattle of the cell door open. Then a furious roar: "What are you doing?"
He remembered he'd left the briefcase out. Quickly, he finished Garam's stitch, and then slammed the briefcase shut and sat on it.
"What? What?"
"Tab, you're still holding the thread coming from Garam's head and it's got a needle on it," Piranha said.
"Oh." He reached into the briefcase, got out a pair of scissors, and cut the thread. "There."
Kell was striding over, rudies dodging out of her way. She did not look pleased. She grabbed Tab by the front of his boiler suit and raised him above her head. He yelped as his head struck the bars above them.
"You're gonna be sorry." Kell raised a fist, and the blades shot out. Tab gulped. It looked like his face was gonna be turned into a stain on the wall.
"Hold it right there, Kell."
Kell dropped Tab and spun round.
"You! Just when I wanted you, you turn up!"
Cube stepped forward.
Clank.
"Cube does not go clank," Tab observed.
Kell dropped him as Cube stepped into the light. The cyborg's mouth dropped open in shock.
Cube had gone cybernetic.
"Cube, baby, you're looking – metallic." For the first time Kell looked slightly ill at ease.
"Cube!" Slate said. "You're okay!"
Kell turned to look at him – and her mouth dropped open. "Coin?"
"Huh?" Slate's eyes narrowed. "You knew me?"
"Oh, come on," Cube snapped from behind her. "Or are you scared?"
"I'm not scared of you," Kell snarled, and rushed towards her enemy. Sparks flew as Kell's buzzsaw connected with Cube's chest.
"Cube!" Slate yelled.
"Cool." What could be called an evil grin spread over Cube's face. "Kell – payback time."
WHAM.
Kell flew backwards and crashed through the bars of the door like they were papier-mâché. Groaning, she picked herself up, and charged towards Cube again.
"Yo, Tab!"
Tab spun round and saw what looked like Combo, standing at the barred entrance to the sewers.
"I'll have y'outta this in no time."
He raised a gigantic claw, and swung it once. The bars fell into several pieces.
"Come on, guys!" Tab called.
The GGs raced down into the sewers as fast as their skates could carry them.
Blizzard crept past his mother and Cube, towards the room on the right. Blaze had cursed at him as he'd crept into the factory, but he'd ignored it.
"Alex?"
The Love Shocker was sitting on the floor, tears staining her face, hugging her knees to her chest.
He dropped down next to her, and touched her shoulder. "Alex, are you all right?"
"Blizzard? Blizzard, is that you?" She sounded frightened. Very frightened.
"Yes, it's me. It's okay. You're safe. It's okay."
Alex blinked a few times. He could see her hands trembling. "Where are we? I don't know what's going on…"
The lost tone in her voice made his heart ache.
"We're in the factory in Kogane, Alex," he said. "And everything's gonna be okay."
"Really?"
"Really."
"No…no, you don't understand…" The words fell from her lips, uncontrolled and terrified. "I went back, she talked to me and then we were back again, I'll never escape, never, you're not real, you're just another hallucination, I'm going crazy…"
Blizzard did the only thing he could think of. He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.
Alex froze for a moment. Blizzard wondered if he'd just made her worse. But then she smiled, and said, "You've got to be real…no one else would be that cold."
"Of course I'm real. Now, let's get out of here."
"Oh, how nauseating."
His brother's voice echoed in the emptying factory. Blizzard turned to see Blaze standing there.
"Honestly. Listen, bro. You're letting her tie you down. You'll fight better without her. Allow me to oblige."
He raised a fist. Fire gathered around it. Then he threw it at Alex.
Blizzard grabbed her arm, dragging her to one side. The fireball flew past them – and struck the oil drums on the other side of the room.
There was an explosion. Blizzard felt the sudden heat on his skin.
Alex coughed in the smoke. "What's happening?" she gasped.
Blizzard grabbed her and dragged her out of the factory. "Stay out here. You're safe now."
Blaze stood in the factory, surrounded by flames.
Blizzard raised his hands. One ice beam would seal the door…
"No," he said.
Maybe it was a stupid thing to do, but he couldn't deliberately force a fiery death on someone. Not even Blaze.
His brother stepped through the flames, apparently not feeling them. His eyes seemed to glow redder than ever. He raised a hand, and a small ball of yellow energy formed in front of it. The ball began to suck up the flames in the factory.
Blizzard could sense its power, and he could make a pretty good guess at its final destination.
"RUN!"
He grabbed Alex's hand and they began to climb the pile of cars. Just as they reached the top –
BOOM.
Blizzard was thrown off his feet by the force of the blast. He skidded along in the dust on his stomach. He looked back down into the crater that was all that was left of the yard. Blaze stood in the centre of it all, the flames reflecting in his eyes.
Meanwhile in the burning factory, Kell and Cube were locked in mortal combat. Cube had grown sword blades from the back of her hands, and was slicing at Kell purposefully.
Kell, however, was attacking back with her claws. Cube was blocking with her metal forearms.
Cube could sense the heat of the flames behind her as she backed away from Kell's whirling buzzsaw. Thinking quickly, she leapt forward, put her hands on Kell's shoulders, and flipped clean over Kell's head. As Kell turned, Cube brought her fist round and hit her full on the nose.
Kell responded with a smashing uppercut to the jaw. Cube was thrown into the air. Just before she began plummeting into the bed of flames, she grabbed hold of the walkways and heaved herself up.
Kell rushed up the stairs and stood in front of her. Cube saw, out of the corner of her eye, the GGs dashing into the sewers, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Bring it on, Kell."
"Right you are, honey."
Skating towards each other at high speed, fists raised, the two girls clashed.
There was an explosion, and Kell shot backwards through the wall, ripping through it like paper. Cube packed another explosive charge into her metal-covered hand, before running out to battle once again.
Beat and Tab skated through Benten-cho, following the trail of wrecked houses left by Neo-Onishima.
When they caught up with him, he was holding a civilian by the throat, laughing insanely. Tab came to the conclusion that Onishima had gone potty.
"Hey! Onishima!" Beat yelled. Tab looked at him. Fury was coursing through the leader like never before.
"Hah! It's two rudies! Just what I need before I slaughter Tokyo-to!"
"Onishima, you've gone nuts! What happened to the slightly overworked, exuberant cop we used to know?"
"He died. I have been improved! Reborn! And Tokyo-to is mine!"
"Well, if you want Tokyo-to, you're gonna have to go through us."
"That can be arranged." Onishima raised one of his many cannons and fired. The shells shot towards Tab and Beat. Swiftly they leapt to one side and onto a banister of the walkway.
More shots rattled off as the minigun traced Beat and Tab's steps, slowly getting closer and closer to the back of Tab's skates. Tab leapt off the banister and began to dash along next to Beat, who was still grinding. Suddenly the whole walkway shook as Onishima began to grind up the banister after Beat. A sniper rifle popped out of one of his oversized arms. The laser sight pointed on the back of Beat's neck.
Tab reached up and dragged Beat off the banister just as the shot whistled past them. Beat clutched the side of his face. There was a thin red line where the bullet had grazed it.
Tab turned round and saw Onishima leap off the banister to land in straight in front of them. "Hah, you're making this too easy, rudies!"
The rocket launcher aimed at them.
"Uh-oh. Beat, I think now would be a good time to – RUN!"
They raced off. There was an explosion behind them. Beat and Tab were thrown off their feet and over the edge of the stairs.
"Blaze!" Blizzard called down desperately into the crater. "We don't have to fight! Seriously!"
"No! We do! It's in our genes! There's only gonna be one Onishima-child left after today, and it's gonna be me!"
"This is just sibling rivalry? You're pathetic!"
"I'm pathetic? You're the one who's screwing a mental Love Shocker!"
"You're confusing me with Dad, Blaze!" Blizzard shouted. "You just leave Alex alone!"
"No! I won't! It's not fair! Why should you have a girl? Why should you have all these people around you, liking you? It's not fair! And I'm sick of it! I'm going to fry every bone in her deranged body!"
"Shut up!" Blizzard leapt down from the wall into the factory yard, heading straight for his brother. Blaze began to glow red like the heart of a fire. Blizzard turned icy blue, like the inside of an iceberg.
The two fighters met, and there was a massive flash of multicoloured light.
Cube dashed up the hill, heading for the rooftops. She was amazed at how well the cybernetics were working. She just had to think of a weapon to hurt Kell with and it would appear.
This was good. Finally she could pay back Kell for everything she'd done. Never before had she been able to return the amount of pain Kell had inflicted on her. But now –
It was payback time.
Sensors bleeped in her mind, and she leapt. A buzzsaw thumped into the ground where she'd been standing.
Another sensor bleeped, and she quickly lowered her visor. Then a huge burst of light exploded in the factory yard. She saw Kell clap her hands over her eyes, blinded, and Cube, taking advantage of the situation, sped off over the rooftops.
She heard the cyborg's snarl of rage echo from behind her, and smirked.
Tab saw the pavement rushing up towards him. He threw his arms up in front of him, and felt one of them snap as he hit the ground.
"Shit!" he yelled as Beat landed on top of him. They were up in moments, and began to run.
Onishima leapt down and landed on the road, cracks spreading out from under his skates. Another rocket was fired off and blew up a staircase.
Tab turned. This was so similar to what had happened before.
"Guys, get outta here! I can hold 'em off!"
"Yo-Yo, don't be a fool! Nothing can stop them now!" Behind him the staircase exploded, showering everyone with dust.
"Run! Now!"
Tab heard the scream of a buzzsaw as it cut through metal. Yo-Yo's shouts mingled with the explosions around them.
"Revenge."
Tab spoke the word. His voice had acquired a new sound. It was free of all other emotions, save one. Hatred.
"Beat. Let's take out the trash."
The pain in his arm seemed to no longer exist. All his attention was focused on Onishima and his destruction.
With an animal cry, Tab leapt forward, brandishing his paint cannon. He landed on Onishima's left shoulder, and began pounding the cannon down onto Onishima's dome.
"Get off, you little…" Onishima reached up and grabbed Tab with one huge arm. He threw the rudie into the air. Tab saw the gun pop out and turn towards him. Then he heard the shot.
And Beat yelled, "Nooooooooo!"
Alex opened her eyes. Her face was covered in dust.
She somehow managed to get to her feet. She was shaking all over, but she didn't know why. All she knew was that she had to find Blizzard. Blizzard was safe. Blizzard was the one who could hold back the terror threatening to drown her.
She staggered down towards the yard. It looked bigger than usual, but she couldn't work out why. She reached the edge and moved to step onto the pile of cars.
And fell.
She landed heavily on the ground, and realised the cars had gone. All of them.
Then she noticed the wing mirrors, metal doors, and shards of glass covering the ground like urban snow.
"Blizzard?" she said.
No answer.
Where was he? She needed him. Needed him desperately.
There was a figure lying in the middle of the yard, where the pylon had once been. It had Blizzard's features, but it wasn't him. There was something that just wasn't right.
Was it Blaze, then? She'd only seen him a little, but she knew the two were identical. But no – it could be Blizzard or Blaze. It just wasn't either of them.
"Alex? Are you okay?"
She looked round. Present Tab was staggering out of the factory, his boiler suit singed.
"Something's happened to Blizzard…" she said, hearing her voice tremble. "I don't know what's happened to him."
Tab walked over to her. "You tried to wake him?"
Alex dropped down next to the unconscious form and shook his shoulders, then snatched her hands away.
"What is it?"
"My hands…it was like getting burnt…or – or like touching ice."
"Well, looks like they've fused."
"Huh?"
"What happened just before they ended up like this?"
"They sort of jumped towards each other…there was a big flash of light, and then they were like this." Alex shivered. "What's happened?"
"Well, unless I'm wrong, they must have been pushing their powers to the absolute limits, and so were exactly equal in strength. When they struck, the massive surge of energy may have caused their powers to implode simultaneously, thus dragging them together and combining them. They are twins, and we don't know what modifications Koji made to them."
"So…you're saying Blizzard and Blaze are now one person?"
"Yeah, I guess so. Listen, touch his forehead."
"Why?"
"Just do it."
Alex didn't have the strength to argue. She reached forward and touched the figure's head.
Her vision faded out for a second, and then returned – but everything had changed. It was like – well, it was like no place she'd ever seen before.
Which was good. For a moment she'd thought she was having another flashback. But this was definitely not from her memory.
It was a large room, and parts of it looked familiar – a pinball machine. Tags on the wall. A faded Tokyo-to map. But mingled with that were other things – a bank of expensive-looking computer terminals which sat where normally Potts's kennel would. Rokkaku symbols covering the sound system. Several glass tanks like coffins lining the walls. The two scenarios were mingled, passing through each other, and the walls kept changing shape.
But overpowering all of that was the sense of Blizzard and Blaze, the irrepressible feeling that this was them, part of them, their places.
Alex shivered. Surely she couldn't have…it was impossible that she could have…
Entered their minds?
Well, don't break anything, then, she cautioned herself. This could be a very strange hallucination – but it was better than a lot of other things she could be seeing.
Carefully she picked her way across the floor, which seemed to be both shiny white lino and tag-covered metal, towards one of the computer terminals. It was glowing. It looked like there was a film on it…but the two figures were very familiar.
"Blaze. You have done well. Your training is now complete. I'm afraid you'll have to remain in stasis for now until you are needed." Koji Rokkaku.
"What? But you can't do that!" Blaze's voice echoed around the room.
"I'm sorry, Blaze, but it's necessary. You must –"
"Don't tell me I must do something! I thought you actually liked having me around! I thought I'd actually found someone I could count on!"
"Blaze, it's not like that. I've really liked having you here, you know that. It's just –"
"Just what? I'm expendable? Not needed?"
"That is the case, from a strategical point of view. If I had the option I wouldn't do this. But it's the only safe place for you at the moment."
"Why should you care about me being safe? You're not my father!"
Alex turned away from the screen, feeling rather guilty. This was a form of eavesdropping.
She looked over at the street map. It seemed different from what she remembered. It was fading, breaking up to form a picture…
She walked over and studied it. Blizzard was skating away down a Shibuya-cho street. She could just make out, in the background, herself and Shackler, standing there talking.
I know what this is, she realised.
Blizzard was skating furiously, his fists clenched. Alex could hear his thoughts echoing inside her skull.
"I don't care. They don't want me around? Fine. I can manage without them. That's what I was designed to be, right? Independent. The perfect weapon, Blizzard.
I don't care. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I care. I hate it when Alex doesn't seem to like me. I really want her to. I mean it would be cool if she did.
Oh, like she'll ever look at me. She wants a real man, like that Poison Jammer. But she could like me, couldn't she? I just want to know what it's like to be cared for…
"Blizzard, I'm sorry," Alex said, wishing the image could hear her. "I'm sorry…I do care for you. Oh, I wish you could hear me!"
She looked round the room. What could she do here? There had to be some way of sorting out whatever had happened to the twins. But she didn't dare touch anything in case she screwed someone's mind up.
Suddenly she noticed that the place seemed bigger. Much bigger. About a mile away from her were two glowing figures, one red, one blue, fighting like crazy.
She began to hurry towards them.
"Ouch!"
Cube hit the Dumpster and felt the impact reverberate through her armour. She looked up and saw Kell flying towards her.
Quickly she analysed the figure, pinpointing the weakest spot. She got ready to punch.
Her fist hammered into Kell's stomach, and the cyborg flew backwards through a wall on the other side of the Shibuya street. They'd fought their way down from Kogane to Shibuya, neither girl giving an inch or showing any sign of giving up.
Cube suddenly realised that the wall in question was the side of the Rokkaku building.
"You are so dead!" Kell's snarl echoed through the smashed hole in the wall.
Cube leapt into the building, fists raised. Kell was tangled in the remains of a reception desk. The secretary was standing screaming for security. A few guards had just dashed in and were shooting at Kell. They were having very little effect. The bullets were pinging off her armoured back.
Kell charged over to Cube and swung her buzzsaw viciously over Cube's head. Cube ducked with comparative ease, but then was lifted off her feet as Kell's foot slammed into her stomach.
Cube flew up. As she fell back down she saw Kell standing beneath her. Then the fist hit her.
Cube cried out as she felt herself tear through the ceiling. Getting to her feet, she saw that she was in some sort of factory. There were silos dotted around the walls, and walkways and bridges crossing over the upper levels of the room.
She saw Kell's hand catch hold of the edge of the hole in the floor. The Love Shocker hauled herself through up into the room like an overgrown, metallic spider. Before she could orientate herself, Cube landed a blow on her face that sent her reeling back into the wall of a large metal silo.
Kell slammed her fist into the wall of the silo in frustration. The metal ripped, and Cube saw liquid hot metal start to drip onto the floor.
Cube yelped and jumped onto a nearby ladder. The flow began to puddle out towards Kell's feet. With a growl of frustration the Love Shocker charged over and slammed her claws into the wall. Hand over hand Kell climbed up to the walkway where Cube was standing.
"No escape now, Cube."
"You think I'm gonna run? We're gonna finish this, Kell. Here and now."
"Okay, if that's how you want it. Playtime is now officially over."
Beat stared at Tab's body in total shock.
"Hah, that's one of you out of the way! You're next, leader boy!"
"No. You're next." Beat looked up. His bionic eye had gone a very, very bright red.
He could see a target homing in on Onishima's dome. Weak Point Identified…
Beat could feel the rage channelling into his eye, all of it focusing on Onishima. He could see the writing scrolling across his vision. ULTIMA CANNON ENGAGED…
He felt the metal of his eye grow warm. Then he heard the sound which you normally only hear in movies. The one when the super-powerful laser is fired.
Then Beat realised. The super-powerful laser had been fired. His head recoiled from the shot. His vision flared, then returned to normal.
The dome had cracked. Beat could see the liquid spilling out over the robot's armour. Onishima's head wore an expression of utmost horror.
Then the dome shattered.
Onishima's head began to wrinkle, like a prune. The lips peeled back from the teeth, the eyes bulged, the mouth fell open in a soundless scream. Flames licked around the dying head as the laser blast took effect.
Onishima's skin began to fall into dust. The skull was left, wearing a permanent howl of terror. The robot suit spluttered, spat black smoke, gave off a small explosion, and fell over backwards.
Then it all went quiet.
Beat stumbled over to Tab's body. Falling to his knees, lifting Tab's head in his arms, he spoke his last words to his good friend.
"We did it, Tab. We saved your future. Goodbye, my main man."
Alex finally made it to Blizzard and Blaze.
"Guys? Blizzard?"
The two boys took no notice of her, and continued trying to pummel each other.
"Hmm. So, they're fighting for dominance of this body. Whoever wins will be in charge. I wish Combo was here."
"Blizzard!" she called again.
She seemed to get through that time. "Alex?" He stopped fighting and looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time.
"Trying to chicken out, bro?" Blaze had a manic grin on his face as he aimed more blows at his sibling.
"Shut up." Blizzard pushed Blaze, who tripped over a wire on the sound system and fell down. "Now, what are you doing in our heads?"
"Too long to explain. But whoever wins this fight wins the body. There'll only be one of you."
"Huh? So if I lose, what happens to me? Huh? What happens to me? Or if he loses, what happens to him, cos he will lose!" Blaze spoke very quickly. Alex saw the Rokkaku parts of the garage become distorted, twisted.
"Whoever loses will probably just…fade away," she said.
"In that case – think fast, Blizzard!"
WHAM.
Blaze punched Blizzard in the face and Blizzard flew back and crashed into the wall.
"Blizzard!" Alex rushed over to him. "Are you okay?"
"I think so…"
Alex helped him to his feet. She heard a snarl of fury from behind her and turned to see Blaze staring at them, his features twisted with rage.
"Well, you have to have all of the affection, don't you? Don't you think I ever wanted to be cared for? You don't think I ever wanted to have friends? It wasn't my fault I ended up like this! It wasn't my fault everyone I thought might like me went away and left me. Koji Rokkaku stuck me in stasis. Mum and Dad hate us both. You. You went and found yourself friends. You're a freak just like me but I'm the only one who suffers for it."
"Blaze, it doesn't have to be like this. If one of us loses, I don't think we'll fade away completely. We will just become part of the winner's subconscious. Blaze. This is your chance. If I win, you can experience the stuff I've been experiencing with me. Just take the fall."
"Really?"
Blaze's voice lost its sneering.
"Really."
An expression of curious happiness passed over Blaze's features. He dropped to the ground, lay back, and then, slowly faded.
Alex felt the tension in the room disappear, and a wave of peace rolled over it as the Rokkaku objects faded.
She turned to Blizzard, and they fell into each other's arms.
Suddenly her vision faded again, and when it returned, she was lying on the ground in the factory yard.
She blinked. "Uhh…Blizzard? Are you there?"
She felt gentle hands on her forehead, brushing away the dust and ash. "I'm here."
His voice was no longer so frosty. Somewhere it had acquired a warmer, less whispery quality.
She closed her eyes and let herself slip into peaceful sleep.
Blizzard looked down at Alex's face. She looked so vulnerable like that. He wished he could help her, like she'd helped him.
"You okay, man?" Present Tab was watching him nervously.
"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine." Blizzard sighed. The central core of cold in his heart had gone.
"I wasn't sure if that was gonna work or not. You still got your powers?"
Blizzard concentrated, and a thin plume of water spilled out from his fingers. He laughed. "Sort of. I guess it'll be useful if we're ever stuck in desert, right?"
"Yeah."
Blizzard carried on smoothing the dust off Alex's forehead.
Suddenly the world faded, and when it returned, it was very different. Blizzard thought he heard Present Tab mutter, "Rats. I should've warned him about all the telepathic shit still flying around."
Cube deflected Kell's buzzsaw on her metal forearm.
"So," Kell panted between blows, "When did you – start – dating Coin?"
"Huh? How do you know Coin?"
"Oh, I've been around." Kell smirked.
"Yeah, and what goes around, sleeps around." Cube ducked as the buzzsaw scythed over her head.
"Watch it, sweetie. I could tell you something about Coin – or Slate, as we all know him now – that you really wouldn't want to know."
"Like what?"
Kell shrugged as she punched out again. "I wouldn't want to ruin your relationship with him, fun though it would be. He didn't recognise me, and I'm not surprised. You didn't, either."
"Huh? What are you – "
She felt a metal hand close round her throat.
Kell swung Cube out over the flood of molten metal that now covered the factory. Cube could hear it steaming below them.
Kell looked into her eyes. "Well, Cube, it's been nice knowing you, but now it's time to say sayonara. The only question is, shall I tell you my little piece of information, or shall I let you go to your death wondering?"
Cube tried to pull Kell's fingers off her throat, but to no avail.
Suddenly she heard a robotic voice in her brain: Survival Systems Activated…
She felt her legs kick out and her feet hooked onto the railings in front of her. Then she felt herself heave on Kell's arm, dragging the cyborg off the bridge.
The world flipped upside down.
Right, Cube thought some seconds later. I am hanging upside down off some railings by my ankles over a boiling pit of molten metal, with a mad Love Shocker cyborg clutching my wrist. To quote Dr Arless Loveless – how did we end up in this dark situation?
(A/N – Last line is © Wild Wild West. So, to some extent, is the situation. Only without the molten metal.)
"Hmm. I didn't expect this to happen." From what Cube could see, Kell was smiling. "Where'd you learn that little trick?"
"Survival system. Built into the armour." Cube could feel her feet starting to slip, inch by imperceptible inch.
"I suppose this is when I'm supposed to apologise to you and we die best buddies." Kell snorted. "Well, that ain't gonna happen, is it?"
"You know I hate you. I should just drop you right now."
"But you won't, will you? Because you're the good guy. And the good guys don't kill. Even when they should."
"Do you want me to drop you?"
"I couldn't care either way, actually. I feel like I've been dead since I fell off the HQ. But it would be nice if you didn't drop me."
"You know I hate you, don't you?"
"Never doubted it. I've known it since we were jailbirds together. And before. I hated you, but you'll probably never know why."
"It was because I wouldn't put out for you, I seem to remember."
"No. It started before that."
A new voice broke into the conversation.
"Sorry to break up this little reminiscing session, but I have a few murders to do."
Cube recognised that voice.
"Omega?"
"Yep."
"Shit!"
"Who's he?" Kell called up from below.
"Just some guy who tried to screw me while I was asleep." Cube tried not to let Kell hear the bitterness in her voice.
"What? That's my job!"
"Hmm. What should I do?" Cube could hear Omega pacing up and down above her. "On the one hand, I could help you…but on the other hand, you totally screwed up my life, and this could be my chance to get sweet revenge."
Cube could feel the sweat running down her face. She blinked it out of her eyes, and said, "Well, I'd go for Option Number One, myself."
"Oh, no, I much prefer Option Two. So, Cube…and cyborg associate…"
"She's not my associate," Cube snapped.
"Whatever. This shouldn't be too hard. It was a lot easier than I thought with Giga."
"Giga? That was your Noise Tank buddy, wasn't it?" Kell said.
"How do you know him?" Omega said. "Oh, well, don't matter now. He fell off a high place in Benten Square. Lucky none of the others noticed I helped him fall…"
He sniggered. Cube swallowed as she felt hands on her feet, starting to unhook them from the rails. "Omega, you don't want to do this," she said, sweat prickling on her skin. "The only reason we kicked you out was because you tried to hit on me and got Yo-Yo into trouble. Be reasonable. Please."
"Hmm…allow me to think. No."
"Boy, I never realised how annoying that is until someone does it to me," Kell said.
"You know what happened to me after you chased me out?" Omega snapped. "Those bullet wounds turned bad, and they wouldn't let me into hospital 'cos I was a rudie. I had to seek help in this little enterprise. I was just heading out when I happened to stroll along and catch up with you guys."
"Yes, and now I've just strolled in here and caught up with all three of you."
"Koji?" Omega shouted. Cube couldn't see what was going on. There were muttered words, then sounds of feet running, and finally a shot. Then she saw Koji and Omega plummeting down towards her. She saw Koji's hand grab Kell's leg, and felt the weight tear down on her arm.
Kell's fingers slipped from around her wrist. Cube heard a series of splashes. One scream. Then – silence.
Blizzard blinked a few times and tried to work out where he was. It didn't look like any place he'd ever been.
In front of him was a huge concrete wall. It reached up into the depths of the misty sky, higher than he could see. A large crack ran down the centre of it.
"What's going on?" he muttered.
Silence. This place was too silent. He didn't like it. There was mist everywhere, mist that could be hiding anything. He didn't want to run into it. He might never come out again.
He took a deep breath, and stepped through the crack in the wall.
Misery slammed him in the gut.
It clouded the air like flies in syrup. Blizzard shivered. He felt tears sting his eyes. This feeling was more powerful than any he'd felt before. More powerful than when he thought he'd murdered some of the GGs, more powerful than when he'd seen Alex get captured by the mob, more powerful than his brother's pain and fury at rejection.
"Where am I?" he said out loud. He looked around. He was standing in a large, darkened hall, the ceiling of which was hidden in shadows. Metal walkways covered the edges and long, broken windows ran down the walls like tears.
He looked back at the crack he'd stepped through.
It had gone.
Blizzard swallowed and tried not to panic. Nothing had happened yet. He was okay. Be calm, he told himself. Be calm.
He heard the sound of a bolt being drawn back, and for some reason the sound filled him with terror.
Stop it! Stop being such a frozen chicken!
Blizzard smiled at the insult. No prizes for guessing who that had come from. He could handle this.
This place seemed so familiar…as though he'd seen it before. Beneath the misery was a recognisable aura, one that he'd felt many times.
"Okay," he said. "Let's see what we can find."
His voice echoed up into the empty building.
There was a door on his right. He opened it, and stepped inside.
It seemed slightly brighter here. There was a pile of school books lying on the table. He picked one up.
It had Alex's name on.
Blizzard began to realise what had happened. Telepathic shit…Alex hopping out of his mind…him touching her forehead…
This is her mind, he realised. It was familiar because it was full of her feelings, her nuances, her style.
So all that misery…that's hers too.
"Alex," he cried out, "Alex, why didn't you tell me?"
Silence.
Except for the crackling of a radio in the corner of the room.
Blizzard turned, and he heard Alex's voice, coming through clearly.
"Is there anything we can do? Doesn't she have any medicine or something?"
"Oh, sure she has medicine." His mother's voice, burning with rage. "She has medicine in her bag, which you just threw into the river!"
"Shit!" A younger voice, full of panic. "What're we gonna do?"
"Call an ambulance!" Alex yelled. "Quick!"
Someone was gasping for breath.
Then there was silence again.
And the room darkened.
Blizzard turned and walked out.
The walls of the main hall seemed to be closing in on him. And the pain in the air was growing stronger. He wanted to drop down and cry, cry for the pain Alex must be feeling, cry for everything that had ever gone wrong in his world, and in Blaze's, and in everybody's.
No. He had to find Alex. She'd come into his mind to save him. He could do the same for her.
Where was the agony the strongest?
Blizzard focused. At last he worked it out. He could feel the distress pulsing out of a doorway on one of the walkways, waves of it washing over him, dragging him down and down and down.
He hurried up the steps to the relevant room. Hand shaking, he turned the handle, and walked inside.
The torment was like a slap in the face. He almost turned and walked out again, but he told himself he could handle it, and forced himself to see what was going on.
There was a girl lying on the ground, under a boarded-up window. She was sobbing, hands covering her face. Her hair was red, tipped with pink, that reached to her shoulders, and her bare legs and feet were gaunt in the faint light.
Blizzard walked towards her. She heard his footsteps, and turned to face him.
He nearly fainted, but what he was starting to think of as his Blaze mentality kicked him awake again.
It was Alex staring at him. Alex with her eyes sunk so deep into her skull they looked almost like empty sockets. Alex with blood coating her arm from a freshly inflicted cut. Alex with an expression of terror on her face that cut him like pieces of glass.
"Help me…" she whispered, voice cracking from crying. "Please…please help me!"
"It's all right." Blizzard wondered if she knew who he was. He gently reached out and took her hand. "I'm here. It's okay."
"I can't get out…" she said. "I'm trapped, and I can't take it, I can't…"
"We can get out," Blizzard said firmly. "And if we can't, I'll stay with you. I'll never leave you."
"Do you promise?" she said, her bony hand gripping his painfully. "Do you?"
"Yes. I do. Now come on. It's horrible in here." He was finding it difficult to speak without wanting to cry.
"I can't," Alex whispered. "Look…"
Someone had handcuffed her wrist to a pipe running down the wall.
"This isn't reality," he said. "This is just your mind. So you must be able to break that. Come on. Try."
Alex tugged feebly at it. "No…"
"Yes. Come on. Do you want to stay like this forever?"
"No!" Fear flew up in her voice like a startled bird.
"So try."
Alex gritted her teeth and tried to break the chain. The air hummed with her effort.
This must be what happened to her ages ago, Blizzard thought. What my mum did to her.
He felt sick. He wanted to tear off any connection to his mother. If he couldn't, he might end up just like her…
Letting people boss you around? a familiar voice sneered in his mind. You are who you are. She can't turn you into anything else. Not now.
"Alex," he said, "Do you remember trying to teach me to skate?"
She looked up at him, and a smile crept onto her face. "Yeah…"
"It was in Shibuya-cho, wasn't it? And I kept falling over."
"It was doing a flip down the hill district I liked the best," she said. Her voice was becoming stronger. "But don't worry. When I learnt to skate I was a mess."
"I can't believe that." Keep her talking, he thought. Just keep that smile on her face.
"Oh, I was. I lived in Kogane-cho, you know? And I would practise in the streets, and the number of times I ended up taking a dip in the river…I'm a real good swimmer now."
She laughed, and a link of the handcuff chain cracked slightly.
The misery was less heavy now. Blizzard now longer wanted to howl. "I'm not too good at swimming," he said. "Koji tried to teach me, but every time I jumped in I froze the water."
"What about Blaze?" Alex's face looked achingly happy.
"Oh, he boiled it. No one else could ever swim with him."
"That's terrible." Alex smiled.
"You saved us, Alex," he said. "You saved us both."
"I suppose – I suppose I did."
The crack in the chain widened.
"Alex?" Blizzard said. "You know, when we get out of all this…I mean, when we're all safe again, would you – I mean – can we, like, go out?"
The handcuff chain broke with a loud snap.
Blizzard felt a pair of horribly skinny arms throw themselves around his neck. Alex was crying, her tears warm and unfrozen on his skin.
"Let's get out of here," he said, helping her to her feet.
She followed him out of the door. The building looked lighter now. Sunlight was slowly spilling in through the windows, casting squares across the floor.
They reached the ground. Blizzard felt Alex's hand tighten on his.
"What is it?" he asked.
She didn't answer. Her eyes were wide with terror. He looked to where she was staring, and his stomach lurched.
His mother was standing on the balcony, looking down at them.
"No…" Alex whispered. "No…"
"She's not really there," Blizzard said. "She's a figment of your imagination."
But he was feeling pretty nervous himself. His mother hated him, and he didn't want to see the disgust in her face when she looked at him.
There was a growl of thunder outside. The sunlight began to fade.
"What are we going to do?" Alex said.
"There must be a way out of here. Do you know where the exit is?"
Alex pointed, hand shaking, to a door. Blizzard could see rain beginning to spatter the windows.
"Then let's just walk over there and get out."
Alex nodded and they set off.
They'd just reached the door, when suddenly Kell was in front of it. Her lips curved into a grin as she saw them, but she didn't say anything.
"She's not real," Blizzard said. "And she can't do anything to you."
"I'm scared…"
Lightning flashed outside, flickering in Kell's eyes.
"Say it," he said. "She's not real."
"But she is, Blizzard! She's out there, in the real world, and I'll never escape, never…"
Alex tried to turn and flee, but Blizzard held onto her.
"We're gonna protect you," he said. "Cube might have dealt with her by now, and even if she hasn't, we'll look after you. I will."
Alex froze, trembling all over.
"Say it, Alex. She's not real."
"She's – she's not – "
"Missed me, Alex?" Kell said, her voice echoing up into the darkened ceiling. "I'm real all right. Don't listen to my son."
"This lady is not real." Blizzard held onto that thought himself as the lightning flashed again, glinting on Kell's buzzsaw. Had she had that a minute ago? He didn't know.
"You'll never get out," Kell said. "And you know you won't."
"You will," Blizzard said. "Don't listen to her. Remember, she's not real!"
Alex was whimpering. Blizzard put his arm round her shoulders. "I'm here," he said. "I'm here."
"You're not real!" Alex shouted at Kell. "You're not! You're not! Get away from me, you ghost!"
Kell suddenly seemed to look less threatening. The thunder became quieter.
"Go away," Alex said, calmly. "I'm not scared of you any more."
There was a hiss as Kell struck a match on her fingernail. Blizzard felt Alex grow rigid.
"I'm not scared," she said. "Go ahead. Hurt me. I'm not scared any more."
She suddenly smiled. "I'm not. I'm really not!"
And suddenly Kell was gone.
Blizzard wrenched open the door, and they ran out into the sunlight. And then he blinked –
and he was back in the factory yard.
Alex opened her eyes. And then she sat up, and they kissed. At last they broke apart, but Blizzard knew that in their hearts they'd be together forever.