Lance and Callisto had taken Fury's speedboat out with them again, plus Forge's locator. As they approached the co-ordinates that Pietro was at, Lance saw something that made his heart sink. Flying overhead was a squadron of U.S. fighter planes, and they were engaged in attacking Genoa. As they watched a missile streaked into the water and a moment later water was hurled upwards as the missile hit its target.
Lance cursed in anger and sorrow as he watched the attack, realising there was nothing he could do to help Pietro now. He was going to die, and Lance hadn't done anything to save him. Callisto put a comforting hand on Lance's left shoulder.
"You did everything you could Lance. It's not your fault."
Lance didn't reply for several seconds, before shaking his head. "I couldn't save him, Callisto." Lance held his head in his hands. "I failed my friend."
Callisto couldn't say anything to that. To tell the truth, she was feeling terrible as well. Pietro and her hadn't been especially close, not like him and Lance, but she had been his friend and it pained her deeply to know that she hadn't been able to do anything to save him. Yet Callisto was a pragmatist and realised that to get rid of a madman like Trask, sacrifices had to be made. It was harsh, but then again so was life.
"We should really get back," she said as more missiles were fired at Genoa.
"Not yet," Lance shook his head. "I want to wait. Maybe Pietro…" his voice tailed off but Callisto knew what he was going to say.
"Lance I really don't think he'll be able to escape."
"I'm not leaving yet." Lance's tone brooked no argument, so Callisto shrugged and sat down at the stern.
Pietro staggered out of Trask's quarters as the base was rocked by another explosion. He wasn't quite sure what the explosions were being caused by, but he was sure Trask hadn't been expecting them. Presumably his locator had worked and Excalibur had picked up his signal, though he would have thought that they would have come looking for him before bombing this place.
The lift wasn't working, so Pietro took the stairs down passing groups of terrified people who were running up and down them. He pushed through them and in this hectic environment no one thought to stop him. As he was running he stopped one of the people and asked him, "how do I get out of here?"
"Every two levels, there're life pods."
Pietro nodded and sprinted down to the next floor, but by the time he had got there all the pods had been taken. Dashing back down the stairs, he was forced to go down six more levels before he found some free pods. This level was dark, presumably one of the explosions had knocked out the power to this level, and deserted. Pietro hurried down to the end of the corridor where he could see the life pods illuminated by an emergency light.
"Going somewhere?" Pietro whirled around and saw Cain standing at the end of the corridor. One of his arms was hanging slightly limply, and he had a vindictive look on his face.
"We've got to get out of here!" Pietro shouted at him. "This place is under attack!"
"You ain't going nowhere!" Cain advanced on him. "I'm going to enjoy making you pay for everything you've done."
"There's no time now!"
"You killed Trask, didn't you!" It was less a question, more a statement. Pietro nodded, and Cain came to a halt and bowed his head. "You've destroyed everything I believed in, what we all believed in. Trask gave us hope, and you snatched it away from us because you were blinded by your hatred!"
Pietro was taken aback by Cain's accusations. "I killed Trask because he was a madman and a murderer! Remember Tokyo?"
Cain however, was not listening. Instead he seemed to be praying. Suddenly he looked Pietro square in the eye. "I'm going to kill you!"
Pietro only just had time to leap back as Cain lunged towards him. Cain's fist smashed into the wall, causing a fist-shaped indent. If it caused him any pain, Cain didn't show it. Pietro managed to duck another two blows, before launching himself shoulder first at Cain. He ploughed into Cain's chest and managed to unbalance him. As Cain teetered, Pietro kicked him in the leg, sending him tumbling to the floor.
Immediately Pietro turned and hit the button that would open the nearest life pod. The hydraulic door slide open with a wheeze, they obviously hadn't been used for a very long time, and they took so long to open that they allowed Cain to get to his feet. Pietro knew that he couldn't beat Cain in a fight, that he had only to keep him down long enough for him to get into the life pod and escape Trask's base.
As Cain got to his feet, Pietro charged in once again, with the purpose of knocking Cain off his feet. This time unfortunately, Cain was ready for him and as he ran towards him, Cain side stepped his shoulder tackle and threw Pietro into a nearby wall.
All the breath was driven out of his body when he hit the wall and he was powerless to stop Cain picking him up and crushing him. With one of his ribs already broken the pressure that Cain now put on him was almost unbearable. Desperate, Pietro head butted Cain in the face, as hard as he could and there was a sickening crack as blood sprayed from Cain's nose. It also made Cain drop Pietro who lay on the ground gasping desperately for breath.
Cain staggered backwards, hands clamped over his face, blood seeping through his fingers. Pietro, seeing the life pod's door was now open, began crawling towards it but Cain intercepted him. "I told you I was going to make you pay." Cain trod on Pietro's left hand, then reached down and lifted up Pietro's index finger. He rested the sole of his boot on the top of Pietro's index finger, before stepping down hard. Pietro heard a crack and let out a ragged gasp of pain, as his finger was broken.
"This is just a fraction of the pain you're going to feel in the next life!" Cain growled in fury, lifting up Pietro's middle finger. This time Pietro couldn't hold back a scream, as his finger was broken.
Cain was about to snap another of Pietro's fingers when he was thrown to the floor by an explosion, which rocked the corridor. Thankful for the respite, Pietro forced himself to stand up, his left hand hanging limply at his side. He turned and shuffled towards the life pod, when Cain spoke up.
"You cannot escape the vengeance of the Lord Maximoff!" Pietro turned to look at him, and realised that Cain was trapped under a large piece of equipment that was sprawled across his chest, blood soaking the ground around him. He also had a pistol in his hand, levelled at Pietro's chest.
The bullet ploughed into Pietro's chest, hurling him backward into the life pod. The door slid closed and Pietro felt a shudder as the pod was ejected from the base. Unfortunately it was too late for him, he'd already lost too much blood. As Pietro lay there darkness crept in at the edge of his vision, and he knew he was about to die. He'd always wondered what it was like to die, and now he knew he was glad to find out that it didn't really hurt. It was more like going to sleep…
Lance and Callisto stayed out at sea until it was almost dark, waiting and watching for any sign of Pietro. As Callisto had expected, they found nothing. Several life pods surfaced during the day, their inhabitants abandoning them and boarding rafts, which they steered towards the mainland. Lance ignored these, but Callisto gave Forge a call warning him about them so they could be picked up when they reached the shore.
The only life pod that was slightly unusual was one with no one in it, but a large bloodstain covering the control panel. It also had a hole in the side, and the pod was almost half full of water by the time it surfaced. Lance and Callisto investigated the pod, but there was no one aboard it, and they were forced to return to the boat.
By nightfall, no life pods had surfaced for almost two hours. "Lance, we've got to go back. He's not coming back."
Lance sighed deeply and nodded. Callisto turned the boat around, while Lance took one last look at the area where Pietro had died. "I'm sorry," he whispered as the area faded into the distance. "I'm so sorry."
There we go, the penultimate chapter! Just one more chapter to go, and things certainly aren't looking quite as happy as they were at the end of Licence to Kill. I'm glad you liked the last chapter DaemonRogue 13, and I hope you liked this one as well!