Author's note: Ok, I know I don't normally put these before the story but I
have to warn everyone that this will be slightly graphic. Normally I don't
warn people about this, in fact, I usually say. "Hey, here's some really
gory scenes! Enjoy!" But in this case, Jess and Mel are going to get beat
down fairly bad. So I just wanted to warn everyone that have grown attached
to these characters to be sure that they know what they're about to read.
In a nutshell, they're going to have the crap beaten out of them no way to
defend themselves. Some things are going to happen to Strife and Kitty too,
but they'll be able to fight back. This could possible be one of the more
disturbing things I ever wrote, as in I don't like to hurt female
characters at lot, if at all.
I guess the only reason I wrote this was because of Mei's last review about what if one of the characters died and how she would've reacted. After reading that, I started to think of which deaths would really catch the reader's attention, which deaths would make the reader STOP reading (Which would be very bad) And which deaths wouldn't matter either way. Now, I want to see what reactions I get from some the general readers. What mad someone was sad about this and what made someone mad about that, etc, etc. Wow, I guess in a way this whole chapter came from one review and alotta "what if's" So thank's Mei and be sure to speak your mind more often, I might be able to pull more chapters out of it. Oh and this goes for anyone else reading. Give me some 'what if's' to work off of. Just know that NOTHING is out of my limit, if killing someone is the way to go, then so be it.
Anyways, I fully understand if I get flames that say. "How can you just beat Mel down like that!" But hey, maybe I'm just giving this too much credit and it won't even turn out to be that bad! But better safe to warn people then not. Ok, on with the story!
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I took my gun out and pointed right at the freak show. Nothing but rage filled my mind. I didn't even notice I was firing off every single on of my bullets into his chest. Ten deadly spears of lead flew in one direction, aiming for one target......But they didn't hit....They didn't even hit!! What the HELL?! They were just floating there in front of him!! Whoa wait...Floating?
I stared at him in disbelief. "What....ARE you?"
He laughed insanely. "Hehehehehe, Me? Oh I am the beginning of your end, the conclusion to your story. I am Siefer...."
I growled then yelled in anger, pulling another clip from my coat and sending another wave of bullets towards him. "I don't gave a damn who are, you son of a BITCH!!"
As I fired I felt something stop me, some kind of force keeping me in place.
"Now, now," Siefer hissed, "save some of those bullets. You'll need them when you decide if you should live after seeing this...."
The force keeping me in place turned me to the screen displaying Jess and Melfina. Oh God, he was going to make me watch their torture....The cold- hearted maniacal, disturbed little-
I sent more disturbing images to his mind but he ignored them. I couldn't turn my eyes from the screen, I couldn't even blink!! He had such a strong hold on me, I felt so helpless....
"Ok, Max....You man now begin."
Max took out a leather whip and unrolled it. At the end of the whip were tiny shards of metal, one crack of that and skin was surely going to fly.
Before he did anything he blindfolded both of them so they wouldn't be able to brace themselves for the impact. He also pulled their ropes up high enough that just their toes were touching the ground. They were already feeling some pain now. I heard that by tying people up like that, there legs would tense up, causing them to have hypertension, which in laments terms meant 'hang like that long enough and you'll be really hurting.'
After a few minutes of Jess and Mel groaning from the pain in their legs, Max held his whip and took one good snap into Jess's side. She screamed bloody murder as it hit, skin ripping in large chunks from her side. Max winded up and hit her again, her screams echoing in the tiny room. With each hit she screamed more. Max turned around behind her and began to lash her back. One of his hits were so hard the some of the metal shards were stuck in her back. He lightly tugged on the whip a couple times but it was in there deep. Jess was balling her eyes out, she pleaded for him to stop be he just laughed at her weakness. He gripped the whip tightly in his right hand and giving a fierce tug, ripped it from Jess's back.
Her scream was so loud, it shook me to the core. I started to shake at what I just saw, Jess was covered in blood, sweat, and tears. I was shaking bad but Jess was quivering like a leaf.
Max walked over to Mel, who was already to the verge of tears, and shaking just as bad, if not worse, then Jess.
Max grinned and wound up his whip. And with a loud crack that shook the very foundation of the room, the whip tore through Mel's soft skin. Her screams were so much worse then Jess's. Jess's were just filled with pain, it seemed like she could take any beating coming her way but Mel's were different. They were filled with pain, fear, and pure sadness. Max whacked her two more times in the back, the second time his whip wrapped around Melfina's body. He took hold of the handle a pulled the whip like it was a sting on a top. It ripped hundred's of dip, rigged gaps in her flesh.
Melfina's screams tore through my body like the whip did to her. I couldn't take this anymore, I couldn't watch this. I had to save them but I couldn't even move!! God, this sucked so bad!! I fought back tears, I couldn't let Siefer seem me like this. It would just give him that much more pleasure.
Max stopped and stood in front of the camera. Just standing there like nothing happened. "Is that all, sir?"
Siefer laughed lightly. "No....All they have are some minor scraps...Give them some bruises to match."
No!! You're sick!! Stop this!!
Please.....Just stop, I'm begging you....
A tear slowly fell down my face, but I stopped. I could NOT let him see me breakdown....But now wasn't the time to be thinking of myself...I watched on as Jess and Mel's beating continued.
Max picked up some kind of black stick. I focused on it, it seemed to shimmer in the light. He lightly beat it against his hand, a metallic ringing came from it as it clanged against his rings. The pipe must've been of some kind of metal. How could someone do this to helpless people?
He walked over to Jess, who was still crying and twitching from the pain. He took the bar and buried it deep into her stomach. Jess once again screamed but this one was a bit softer, she must've been loosing strength....And maybe even hope..... Max growled then cursed her out for not screaming loud enough. After his verbal abuse he drove the bar into her stomach again. Jess cried out as loud as she had been before.
Max decided to stop being to soft about his hits. After a quick crack of his knuckles he began an onslaught of vicious beatings to Jess's back, side, stomach and head. After a couple hundred whacks, she stopped screaming....And moving.
Siefer spoke to Max. "Aww, you didn't kill her did you?"
Max checked her pulse. It was low but it was there. "No sir."
"Good, now move on to the other one."
I couldn't stand this any longer, I wanted to drop to my knees and just cry but the force holding me wouldn't allow it. This by far was the most horrendous thing I have seen in my entire life, with no exceptions.
Max moved over to Mel, he took the pipe in both hands and swung at her skull like a batter aiming for a ball. A large 'THUNK' came from her head and she was out like a light, blood pouring from the wound like a river.
Max turned to the camera. "Uh...Sir. She's out. Not what?"
Siefer grumbled. "From only one hit? Oh well, just hit her until you get bored."
Max shrugged her shoulders then continued beaming Melfina in the stomach and back.
"Stop!" I yelled. "She's already unconscious! You have no right to keep hitting her!!
"Oh but I have all the right. What are you going to do? Stop me?"
I couldn't stand this anymore, I willed every part of my body to move....But nothing happened!! I wanted to die so bad!! Just kill me!!
Siefer looked back up to Max. "Max, you can stop now. Take them away and feel free to do whatever you wish with them. I'll be up later to fully dispose of them." With that, the screen flicked off.
The force turned me to Siefer, who had a smug look on his face. "Well, well, well. Are you ready to die?"
"Only after I kill you...."
"Hehehehehe, kill me? No, I don't think so....Actually you're going to kill someone else first...." He pointed to Kitty. "Her."
The force turned me to the C'tarl C'tarl. I looked at her, she was bewildered by what was going on. But she too was also frozen in place by this mysterious force. There was nothing either of us could do.
"Now Strife...kill her."
My arm started to rise up....All on its own!! I resisted but it slowly drew closer to Kitty. Soon enough my gun was aimed right at her head. Tears were flowing down her face. She knew she was dead, and by my own hand. She looked at me, trying hard to show no fear. "I know this isn't your fault, Strife....I'm just sorry it has to be this way."
"...Me too...."
My finger pressed against the trigger, the hammer of the gun started to click back, waiting to spring forward and launch the lethal shot.
I couldn't believe I was about to do this, and after I shot Kitty, Siefer would make me put me own life to an end. Why couldn't my luck turn around for ONCE?! Why couldn't things go my way just this one time?! If there was any kind of God out there then he would use his mighty power to somehow get me out of this situation! Just this one time, why not just one time!! Please...JUST THIS ONCE!!
The guard from the chair behind started to stir awake. When his eyes opened he was met by the most unusual predicament. One stranger pointing a deadly weapon at a C'tarl C'tarl so he did the only thing that came to mind. He yelled at the top of his lungs. "What are you too doing in here?!?!"
The sudden burst of anger shook everyone in the room, but as he yelled I felt the force holding me tight suddenly let go. I twirled around and pointed my gun right at Siefer, who was still stunned by the awoken guard. The bullet flew and made the greatest little hole in his chest. He fell helplessly to the floor, still alive.....Payback time.
First thing was first, swung my fist around and knocked the plump guard in the jaw, sure he jus saved my life but if he kept ranting on more people might come.
I walked over to Siefer and picked him up by the throat. I had no idea how I was going to hurt him, I just knew it had to be BAD.
Kitty grabbed my shoulder. "Strife! They still no where my mother is! They can still kill her!"
Ok, Siefer. Where's Kitty's mom?
I shot him in the leg.
I shot him again.
"Kitty, check the tapes. See if there's place called Level two security prison on the west side."
Kitty ran over to the screens and hit some switches. "Yeah there is....Oh my god, Strife! My mom's in there!!"
I smiled, one prisoner freed. Ok, now where's Jess and Mel?
I shot him in the other leg.
"Kitty, check room two of that place. Jess and Mel should be in there."
She hit some more buttons. "Yep, they're in there. Wanna go get them?"
"Sure, just a sec."
I picked Siefer up off the ground and threw him right into the main screen. Glass flew and electricity surged. Siefer's body twitched and convulsed....Ah, revenge really was sweet.
Kitty lead me in the direction of the room that had Mel, Jess, and her mother. But I stopped her. "Kitty....Where's the power room?"
"It was right next to the surveillance room, why?"
"How many people in here do you think would like to escape?"
A grinned washed over her face. She knew exactly what I was thinking, if we could shut off the power then all the prisoners would escape, helping us as a big distraction.
We ran back to the power room, which of course was locked. A 9mm bullet solved that problem. We walked in and saw a large generator with a control panel in front of it.
"Ok, time to start breaking things." I said, pulling out my shotgun.
This was my last shot so I hoped it counted. I aimed it towards the control panel and fired. The explosion that came from the panel was big enough to launch us from the room. We weren't hurt bad though....Well maybe except for the throbbing in my head.
Kitty picked my up and we started booking down the hallway. As we ran all the lights went out. I stopped. "Kitty, I can't see!"
"Don't worry, I still can. We'll be fine."
As I ran I could hear gun fire and people yelling off in the distance. Guess some prisoners were getting a little rowdy.
We reached the security room with no difficulty, everyone was too busy dealing with the escaped convicts to care about anyplace else. Kitty pushed open the door and helped me in. There were small rays of light coming through a window on the far end. This was my first reencounter with the outside world. From what I could see, it was night out. Nice now we could sneak away in the cover of darkness. Kitty told me to stay put as she went off to find the others since she was the one that saw where they were on the cameras.
I sat with my back against a wall. I thought the day I lost Sky and Volk was going to be the worst experience of my life, I thought that would never be topped....Well, I thought wrong. This beat it by a landslide. I didn't know how bad Jess and Melfina were hurt, I couldn't tell how long it would take them to recover, if they could at all.
I couldn't help but to think somehow this was all my fault, that maybe my dream for a better life was just that....A dream. Maybe I wasn't cut out to be an Outlaw, maybe I should just be one of those people who knew my place and let others step all over me....Maybe....
Kitty came back carrying Melfina over her shoulder, being followed by Jess and by an older C'tarl whom I guessed was her mom. All of them were staggering around. It was such a sad site....I stood up and before I could say anything Jess started to fall to the ground. I was able to catch her before he fell. She slowly stood back on her own feet and put her arms around me.
"I was so afraid, Strife....I didn't think I could go on, even through that beating....But then I thought of you and your determination about tuning this galaxy around. I knew if you could go through anything to make that happen, then I could do no less. Thank you for being me rock, Strife."
She started to cry in my arms. I held her tighter. No, Jess....Thank you. I think you just helped me out more then you'll ever know....
"Kitty, do you know the way out of here?" I asked, still holding Jess.
"Hell yeah, it's the only way I ever cared about in this whole friggen place."
"Good, I want you to get everyone out of here and take them to my ship. It's red. Jess or Mel should be able to point it out to you."
"What? Aren't you coming with us?"
I shook my head. "No, I have a boy to find...."
Jess looked up at me, her eyes were wide. I could see that she didn't want me to go but I couldn't let her stop me. I reluctantly let her go. "Don't worry, Jess....This isn't the end. I will be back, and I'll be back with Tim."
I turned around and ran off to the main prison. I could hear Jess yelling for me but I didn't stop, I couldn't stop. There was a scared little boy out there that needed my help.
As I ran the quiet calm of the dark halls were filled with screams and gun fire. At least I knew I was in the right place. As I walked along I had to watch my step so I wouldn't trip on one of the many bodies lying around. One of the guards still had his gun, I took it from him along with an extra mag. Now I was a little more prepared.
There was no use sneaking around. I was now right in the middle of the battle field, people ran all around me, bullets whizzed by my head. But I still looked in every passing cell. But no sign of the boy, I kept checking but nothing.
As I reached what I thought was the millionth cell, something blew up about 100 yards away from me. I looked at what it was, to my surprise it was a large whole in the wall. Someone blew a new exit!! Yes! Now I just had to find this kid. I had to be fast to since the crowd was thinning out then that would make me a bigger target.
I continued walking but had to stop and to pull someone's shirt off my boot. As I reached down I saw the body of a small child. I bent down right next to him and felt his face. He was still breathing but it was ever so slight. I had to get him out of here now.
I picked him up and over my shoulder, running full blast to the new exit. As I ran outside it was like I stepped from the frying pan and into the fire. Bullets ran across me in waves. All I did was make a bee line towards the exit, shooting down any guard in my way.
I couldn't even tell what I was doing anymore, I had to stop and look at my surroundings. I was out of the main complex but chaos was still going strong. It's like every man, women and child was in this fight. There was a car coming right at me from behind. I raised my rifle and shot the driver. He swerved and planted his car into a wall. I went over and pulled the driver out, hoping the car still work....Thank god it did. With the pedal grinding against the floor, I was out of there.
I turned, swerved, and basically ran over any and all people in my way. Soon I was at the bay. Out of all the places, this was the quietest, but it still had it's fare share of shooting.
I took the kid and headed into the bay, shooting people in my when as I ran. I got to the Outlaw Star just as it's engines ignited. I put all my effort into getting into the door before it closed. The second I was in, the Outlaw Star was off in space.
I climbed up the ladder and entered the bridge and for the first time the whole day, I sat down and relaxed.
Kitty, her mother and Jess were all on the bridge. Jess was there since she was the only one who knew how to get this thing going, she looked so tired but at least she had some wrapping around her to stop the bleeding. Kitty told me that she wouldn't get ant treatment until she saw me safe and sound on the ship. I laughed, not believing someone would care about me that much
Kitty's mom turned to me and shook my hand. "I don't know how you got everyone out of that hellish prison alive, but you did and I expect no less from Gene's predecessor."
I cocked an eyebrow. "You know Gene?"
"Of course I do, I used to be part of his crew."
My mouth gapped open as Kitty walked over to me. "Strife, I'd like to meet my mom. Aisha Clan Clan."
Aisha blushed. "It's a pleasure to meet you Strife."
I didn't know what to say, I can't believe that I was meeting Aisha! She was looked much older then the pictures I had seen of her....But I shouldn't really be that surprised. Jim and Gene looked just as different. But man, I heard so much talk about her, she was one of the Strongest C'tarls that ever lived!!
"Now if you don't mind," She said, "I have to go check on Mel."
They both walked off the bridge, leaving Jess and me alone to ourselves.
"Strife, just so you know Gillium's going to have to temporarily shut down the ship to be able to check for any bugs that may have been planted."
"Alright, that's fine. I'll be down wherever Mel is. I need to bandage me head or something."
"You think you're hurt....."
She sounded so weak as she did her best to stand up next to me. Not only that but she couldn't even finish her sentence, she just seemed to look out into space, like she was looking past me at something. I turned to see what it was, there were two people standing in the doorway to the engine room of the ship that seemed to have come from no where. Each own pointed a gun to my head.
What happened next was all a blur. Gillium shut off the lights to do his bug check and everything went to hell. I had Quick Silver at and firing the same time those two people shot at me, I threw my body to the ground, whether it was because I wanted to avoid the bullets or they already hit was beyond comprehension. All I knew was that it felt like hours but only lasted seconds.
There was silence as Gillium's voice confirmed there was indeed a bug on the ship then allowed power to run again. I looked at the two people, both lying in a pool of blood. Good, I got them. I was happy. But now I was feeling worse then ever, I was hot all over my body, so hot that I could feel streams of sweat flow down my chest. The light-headed feeling in my head was back in a vengeance, now I couldn't even focus my eyes on a solid objects. Jess came over to me, crying for some reason or another. Oh man, did I just kill people she knew? That wasn't going to help out our relationship at all.
The hot feeling in my chest wasn't going away so I reached up to wipe some sweat off my shirt....Aw, yuck. There was so much if it, it was so sticky. I brought my hand up to wipe it off on my coat....But what I saw wasn't sweat....It was blood. I looked down, my whole shirt was dark crimson, there were at least five holes in my chest, not counting any that may be in other body parts.
I heard Jess screaming to me but she sounded distant, like she was standing far away. She was saying something like 'don't die'. Don't die? Was I dieing? No, I couldn't be dieing. I just saved my crew and a little boy, no twist of fate was going to kill me. My luck was not THIS bad. I was just tired, that's all. I was working my butt off this whole day, it was time for me to sleep. I shut my eyes, but Jess just started to shake me.
C'mon, Jess....I really am tired.....Let me sleep....Just.For a little while.
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Author's note: Well, there you have it. Probably my grimmest chapter to date, it's probably my best one too. Just have to wait for those reviews. Also like I said, I'm half expecting flames for the abuse I put them threw, but hey....That just means you guys are REALLY into this story, but I do hope I get POSITIVE response from this, too....
Ah and about Strife? I did always want to move this story over to Jess's first person point of view, maybe now I can....
"Good reading equals good times." I'm out.
I guess the only reason I wrote this was because of Mei's last review about what if one of the characters died and how she would've reacted. After reading that, I started to think of which deaths would really catch the reader's attention, which deaths would make the reader STOP reading (Which would be very bad) And which deaths wouldn't matter either way. Now, I want to see what reactions I get from some the general readers. What mad someone was sad about this and what made someone mad about that, etc, etc. Wow, I guess in a way this whole chapter came from one review and alotta "what if's" So thank's Mei and be sure to speak your mind more often, I might be able to pull more chapters out of it. Oh and this goes for anyone else reading. Give me some 'what if's' to work off of. Just know that NOTHING is out of my limit, if killing someone is the way to go, then so be it.
Anyways, I fully understand if I get flames that say. "How can you just beat Mel down like that!" But hey, maybe I'm just giving this too much credit and it won't even turn out to be that bad! But better safe to warn people then not. Ok, on with the story!
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I took my gun out and pointed right at the freak show. Nothing but rage filled my mind. I didn't even notice I was firing off every single on of my bullets into his chest. Ten deadly spears of lead flew in one direction, aiming for one target......But they didn't hit....They didn't even hit!! What the HELL?! They were just floating there in front of him!! Whoa wait...Floating?
I stared at him in disbelief. "What....ARE you?"
He laughed insanely. "Hehehehehe, Me? Oh I am the beginning of your end, the conclusion to your story. I am Siefer...."
I growled then yelled in anger, pulling another clip from my coat and sending another wave of bullets towards him. "I don't gave a damn who are, you son of a BITCH!!"
As I fired I felt something stop me, some kind of force keeping me in place.
"Now, now," Siefer hissed, "save some of those bullets. You'll need them when you decide if you should live after seeing this...."
The force keeping me in place turned me to the screen displaying Jess and Melfina. Oh God, he was going to make me watch their torture....The cold- hearted maniacal, disturbed little-
I sent more disturbing images to his mind but he ignored them. I couldn't turn my eyes from the screen, I couldn't even blink!! He had such a strong hold on me, I felt so helpless....
"Ok, Max....You man now begin."
Max took out a leather whip and unrolled it. At the end of the whip were tiny shards of metal, one crack of that and skin was surely going to fly.
Before he did anything he blindfolded both of them so they wouldn't be able to brace themselves for the impact. He also pulled their ropes up high enough that just their toes were touching the ground. They were already feeling some pain now. I heard that by tying people up like that, there legs would tense up, causing them to have hypertension, which in laments terms meant 'hang like that long enough and you'll be really hurting.'
After a few minutes of Jess and Mel groaning from the pain in their legs, Max held his whip and took one good snap into Jess's side. She screamed bloody murder as it hit, skin ripping in large chunks from her side. Max winded up and hit her again, her screams echoing in the tiny room. With each hit she screamed more. Max turned around behind her and began to lash her back. One of his hits were so hard the some of the metal shards were stuck in her back. He lightly tugged on the whip a couple times but it was in there deep. Jess was balling her eyes out, she pleaded for him to stop be he just laughed at her weakness. He gripped the whip tightly in his right hand and giving a fierce tug, ripped it from Jess's back.
Her scream was so loud, it shook me to the core. I started to shake at what I just saw, Jess was covered in blood, sweat, and tears. I was shaking bad but Jess was quivering like a leaf.
Max walked over to Mel, who was already to the verge of tears, and shaking just as bad, if not worse, then Jess.
Max grinned and wound up his whip. And with a loud crack that shook the very foundation of the room, the whip tore through Mel's soft skin. Her screams were so much worse then Jess's. Jess's were just filled with pain, it seemed like she could take any beating coming her way but Mel's were different. They were filled with pain, fear, and pure sadness. Max whacked her two more times in the back, the second time his whip wrapped around Melfina's body. He took hold of the handle a pulled the whip like it was a sting on a top. It ripped hundred's of dip, rigged gaps in her flesh.
Melfina's screams tore through my body like the whip did to her. I couldn't take this anymore, I couldn't watch this. I had to save them but I couldn't even move!! God, this sucked so bad!! I fought back tears, I couldn't let Siefer seem me like this. It would just give him that much more pleasure.
Max stopped and stood in front of the camera. Just standing there like nothing happened. "Is that all, sir?"
Siefer laughed lightly. "No....All they have are some minor scraps...Give them some bruises to match."
No!! You're sick!! Stop this!!
Please.....Just stop, I'm begging you....
A tear slowly fell down my face, but I stopped. I could NOT let him see me breakdown....But now wasn't the time to be thinking of myself...I watched on as Jess and Mel's beating continued.
Max picked up some kind of black stick. I focused on it, it seemed to shimmer in the light. He lightly beat it against his hand, a metallic ringing came from it as it clanged against his rings. The pipe must've been of some kind of metal. How could someone do this to helpless people?
He walked over to Jess, who was still crying and twitching from the pain. He took the bar and buried it deep into her stomach. Jess once again screamed but this one was a bit softer, she must've been loosing strength....And maybe even hope..... Max growled then cursed her out for not screaming loud enough. After his verbal abuse he drove the bar into her stomach again. Jess cried out as loud as she had been before.
Max decided to stop being to soft about his hits. After a quick crack of his knuckles he began an onslaught of vicious beatings to Jess's back, side, stomach and head. After a couple hundred whacks, she stopped screaming....And moving.
Siefer spoke to Max. "Aww, you didn't kill her did you?"
Max checked her pulse. It was low but it was there. "No sir."
"Good, now move on to the other one."
I couldn't stand this any longer, I wanted to drop to my knees and just cry but the force holding me wouldn't allow it. This by far was the most horrendous thing I have seen in my entire life, with no exceptions.
Max moved over to Mel, he took the pipe in both hands and swung at her skull like a batter aiming for a ball. A large 'THUNK' came from her head and she was out like a light, blood pouring from the wound like a river.
Max turned to the camera. "Uh...Sir. She's out. Not what?"
Siefer grumbled. "From only one hit? Oh well, just hit her until you get bored."
Max shrugged her shoulders then continued beaming Melfina in the stomach and back.
"Stop!" I yelled. "She's already unconscious! You have no right to keep hitting her!!
"Oh but I have all the right. What are you going to do? Stop me?"
I couldn't stand this anymore, I willed every part of my body to move....But nothing happened!! I wanted to die so bad!! Just kill me!!
Siefer looked back up to Max. "Max, you can stop now. Take them away and feel free to do whatever you wish with them. I'll be up later to fully dispose of them." With that, the screen flicked off.
The force turned me to Siefer, who had a smug look on his face. "Well, well, well. Are you ready to die?"
"Only after I kill you...."
"Hehehehehe, kill me? No, I don't think so....Actually you're going to kill someone else first...." He pointed to Kitty. "Her."
The force turned me to the C'tarl C'tarl. I looked at her, she was bewildered by what was going on. But she too was also frozen in place by this mysterious force. There was nothing either of us could do.
"Now Strife...kill her."
My arm started to rise up....All on its own!! I resisted but it slowly drew closer to Kitty. Soon enough my gun was aimed right at her head. Tears were flowing down her face. She knew she was dead, and by my own hand. She looked at me, trying hard to show no fear. "I know this isn't your fault, Strife....I'm just sorry it has to be this way."
"...Me too...."
My finger pressed against the trigger, the hammer of the gun started to click back, waiting to spring forward and launch the lethal shot.
I couldn't believe I was about to do this, and after I shot Kitty, Siefer would make me put me own life to an end. Why couldn't my luck turn around for ONCE?! Why couldn't things go my way just this one time?! If there was any kind of God out there then he would use his mighty power to somehow get me out of this situation! Just this one time, why not just one time!! Please...JUST THIS ONCE!!
The guard from the chair behind started to stir awake. When his eyes opened he was met by the most unusual predicament. One stranger pointing a deadly weapon at a C'tarl C'tarl so he did the only thing that came to mind. He yelled at the top of his lungs. "What are you too doing in here?!?!"
The sudden burst of anger shook everyone in the room, but as he yelled I felt the force holding me tight suddenly let go. I twirled around and pointed my gun right at Siefer, who was still stunned by the awoken guard. The bullet flew and made the greatest little hole in his chest. He fell helplessly to the floor, still alive.....Payback time.
First thing was first, swung my fist around and knocked the plump guard in the jaw, sure he jus saved my life but if he kept ranting on more people might come.
I walked over to Siefer and picked him up by the throat. I had no idea how I was going to hurt him, I just knew it had to be BAD.
Kitty grabbed my shoulder. "Strife! They still no where my mother is! They can still kill her!"
Ok, Siefer. Where's Kitty's mom?
I shot him in the leg.
I shot him again.
"Kitty, check the tapes. See if there's place called Level two security prison on the west side."
Kitty ran over to the screens and hit some switches. "Yeah there is....Oh my god, Strife! My mom's in there!!"
I smiled, one prisoner freed. Ok, now where's Jess and Mel?
I shot him in the other leg.
"Kitty, check room two of that place. Jess and Mel should be in there."
She hit some more buttons. "Yep, they're in there. Wanna go get them?"
"Sure, just a sec."
I picked Siefer up off the ground and threw him right into the main screen. Glass flew and electricity surged. Siefer's body twitched and convulsed....Ah, revenge really was sweet.
Kitty lead me in the direction of the room that had Mel, Jess, and her mother. But I stopped her. "Kitty....Where's the power room?"
"It was right next to the surveillance room, why?"
"How many people in here do you think would like to escape?"
A grinned washed over her face. She knew exactly what I was thinking, if we could shut off the power then all the prisoners would escape, helping us as a big distraction.
We ran back to the power room, which of course was locked. A 9mm bullet solved that problem. We walked in and saw a large generator with a control panel in front of it.
"Ok, time to start breaking things." I said, pulling out my shotgun.
This was my last shot so I hoped it counted. I aimed it towards the control panel and fired. The explosion that came from the panel was big enough to launch us from the room. We weren't hurt bad though....Well maybe except for the throbbing in my head.
Kitty picked my up and we started booking down the hallway. As we ran all the lights went out. I stopped. "Kitty, I can't see!"
"Don't worry, I still can. We'll be fine."
As I ran I could hear gun fire and people yelling off in the distance. Guess some prisoners were getting a little rowdy.
We reached the security room with no difficulty, everyone was too busy dealing with the escaped convicts to care about anyplace else. Kitty pushed open the door and helped me in. There were small rays of light coming through a window on the far end. This was my first reencounter with the outside world. From what I could see, it was night out. Nice now we could sneak away in the cover of darkness. Kitty told me to stay put as she went off to find the others since she was the one that saw where they were on the cameras.
I sat with my back against a wall. I thought the day I lost Sky and Volk was going to be the worst experience of my life, I thought that would never be topped....Well, I thought wrong. This beat it by a landslide. I didn't know how bad Jess and Melfina were hurt, I couldn't tell how long it would take them to recover, if they could at all.
I couldn't help but to think somehow this was all my fault, that maybe my dream for a better life was just that....A dream. Maybe I wasn't cut out to be an Outlaw, maybe I should just be one of those people who knew my place and let others step all over me....Maybe....
Kitty came back carrying Melfina over her shoulder, being followed by Jess and by an older C'tarl whom I guessed was her mom. All of them were staggering around. It was such a sad site....I stood up and before I could say anything Jess started to fall to the ground. I was able to catch her before he fell. She slowly stood back on her own feet and put her arms around me.
"I was so afraid, Strife....I didn't think I could go on, even through that beating....But then I thought of you and your determination about tuning this galaxy around. I knew if you could go through anything to make that happen, then I could do no less. Thank you for being me rock, Strife."
She started to cry in my arms. I held her tighter. No, Jess....Thank you. I think you just helped me out more then you'll ever know....
"Kitty, do you know the way out of here?" I asked, still holding Jess.
"Hell yeah, it's the only way I ever cared about in this whole friggen place."
"Good, I want you to get everyone out of here and take them to my ship. It's red. Jess or Mel should be able to point it out to you."
"What? Aren't you coming with us?"
I shook my head. "No, I have a boy to find...."
Jess looked up at me, her eyes were wide. I could see that she didn't want me to go but I couldn't let her stop me. I reluctantly let her go. "Don't worry, Jess....This isn't the end. I will be back, and I'll be back with Tim."
I turned around and ran off to the main prison. I could hear Jess yelling for me but I didn't stop, I couldn't stop. There was a scared little boy out there that needed my help.
As I ran the quiet calm of the dark halls were filled with screams and gun fire. At least I knew I was in the right place. As I walked along I had to watch my step so I wouldn't trip on one of the many bodies lying around. One of the guards still had his gun, I took it from him along with an extra mag. Now I was a little more prepared.
There was no use sneaking around. I was now right in the middle of the battle field, people ran all around me, bullets whizzed by my head. But I still looked in every passing cell. But no sign of the boy, I kept checking but nothing.
As I reached what I thought was the millionth cell, something blew up about 100 yards away from me. I looked at what it was, to my surprise it was a large whole in the wall. Someone blew a new exit!! Yes! Now I just had to find this kid. I had to be fast to since the crowd was thinning out then that would make me a bigger target.
I continued walking but had to stop and to pull someone's shirt off my boot. As I reached down I saw the body of a small child. I bent down right next to him and felt his face. He was still breathing but it was ever so slight. I had to get him out of here now.
I picked him up and over my shoulder, running full blast to the new exit. As I ran outside it was like I stepped from the frying pan and into the fire. Bullets ran across me in waves. All I did was make a bee line towards the exit, shooting down any guard in my way.
I couldn't even tell what I was doing anymore, I had to stop and look at my surroundings. I was out of the main complex but chaos was still going strong. It's like every man, women and child was in this fight. There was a car coming right at me from behind. I raised my rifle and shot the driver. He swerved and planted his car into a wall. I went over and pulled the driver out, hoping the car still work....Thank god it did. With the pedal grinding against the floor, I was out of there.
I turned, swerved, and basically ran over any and all people in my way. Soon I was at the bay. Out of all the places, this was the quietest, but it still had it's fare share of shooting.
I took the kid and headed into the bay, shooting people in my when as I ran. I got to the Outlaw Star just as it's engines ignited. I put all my effort into getting into the door before it closed. The second I was in, the Outlaw Star was off in space.
I climbed up the ladder and entered the bridge and for the first time the whole day, I sat down and relaxed.
Kitty, her mother and Jess were all on the bridge. Jess was there since she was the only one who knew how to get this thing going, she looked so tired but at least she had some wrapping around her to stop the bleeding. Kitty told me that she wouldn't get ant treatment until she saw me safe and sound on the ship. I laughed, not believing someone would care about me that much
Kitty's mom turned to me and shook my hand. "I don't know how you got everyone out of that hellish prison alive, but you did and I expect no less from Gene's predecessor."
I cocked an eyebrow. "You know Gene?"
"Of course I do, I used to be part of his crew."
My mouth gapped open as Kitty walked over to me. "Strife, I'd like to meet my mom. Aisha Clan Clan."
Aisha blushed. "It's a pleasure to meet you Strife."
I didn't know what to say, I can't believe that I was meeting Aisha! She was looked much older then the pictures I had seen of her....But I shouldn't really be that surprised. Jim and Gene looked just as different. But man, I heard so much talk about her, she was one of the Strongest C'tarls that ever lived!!
"Now if you don't mind," She said, "I have to go check on Mel."
They both walked off the bridge, leaving Jess and me alone to ourselves.
"Strife, just so you know Gillium's going to have to temporarily shut down the ship to be able to check for any bugs that may have been planted."
"Alright, that's fine. I'll be down wherever Mel is. I need to bandage me head or something."
"You think you're hurt....."
She sounded so weak as she did her best to stand up next to me. Not only that but she couldn't even finish her sentence, she just seemed to look out into space, like she was looking past me at something. I turned to see what it was, there were two people standing in the doorway to the engine room of the ship that seemed to have come from no where. Each own pointed a gun to my head.
What happened next was all a blur. Gillium shut off the lights to do his bug check and everything went to hell. I had Quick Silver at and firing the same time those two people shot at me, I threw my body to the ground, whether it was because I wanted to avoid the bullets or they already hit was beyond comprehension. All I knew was that it felt like hours but only lasted seconds.
There was silence as Gillium's voice confirmed there was indeed a bug on the ship then allowed power to run again. I looked at the two people, both lying in a pool of blood. Good, I got them. I was happy. But now I was feeling worse then ever, I was hot all over my body, so hot that I could feel streams of sweat flow down my chest. The light-headed feeling in my head was back in a vengeance, now I couldn't even focus my eyes on a solid objects. Jess came over to me, crying for some reason or another. Oh man, did I just kill people she knew? That wasn't going to help out our relationship at all.
The hot feeling in my chest wasn't going away so I reached up to wipe some sweat off my shirt....Aw, yuck. There was so much if it, it was so sticky. I brought my hand up to wipe it off on my coat....But what I saw wasn't sweat....It was blood. I looked down, my whole shirt was dark crimson, there were at least five holes in my chest, not counting any that may be in other body parts.
I heard Jess screaming to me but she sounded distant, like she was standing far away. She was saying something like 'don't die'. Don't die? Was I dieing? No, I couldn't be dieing. I just saved my crew and a little boy, no twist of fate was going to kill me. My luck was not THIS bad. I was just tired, that's all. I was working my butt off this whole day, it was time for me to sleep. I shut my eyes, but Jess just started to shake me.
C'mon, Jess....I really am tired.....Let me sleep....Just.For a little while.
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Author's note: Well, there you have it. Probably my grimmest chapter to date, it's probably my best one too. Just have to wait for those reviews. Also like I said, I'm half expecting flames for the abuse I put them threw, but hey....That just means you guys are REALLY into this story, but I do hope I get POSITIVE response from this, too....
Ah and about Strife? I did always want to move this story over to Jess's first person point of view, maybe now I can....
"Good reading equals good times." I'm out.