By Final Fantasy GX
Disclaimer: I do not own Cyberchase.
Genre: Action/Adventure/Romance/Suspense/Angst… A bit of everything, really.
Summary: Will the returned Crimson Blade, altered but still as evil as ever, achieve his ultimate goal? Who will become tangled in his dark designs? And, most of all, who will survive his vicious onslaught? New allies, new threats, and old enemies combine to make the Cybersquad's desperate fight against Crimson harder than ever…
Rating: PG-13 (minimal gore, death, violence)
Author's Note/s: Well… Chapter Three, finally. Sorry to keep you all waiting; I had a little trouble with the plot and things like that. I hope it's all right. It's going okay at the moment.
Re-edit Notes: Ugh. –shudders- This was a chapter absolutely full of mistakes, bad grammar & punctuation, too-simple terms and really bad wording. Hopefully, the upgrade I've done has made it somewhat readable.
Again, there are a few dialogue changes, as well as a minor plot change: nothing that upsets the story, btw.
Chapter 3: Trapped"What are you doing?" A terrified voice echoed in the silent room. "Wait – don't do that – don't – what are you – what are you doing - " Thud. Clatter.
"Hey - "
"Silence, foolish mortal."
"But - "
"I said, BE QUIET!"
The room was pitch-dark, but the fading light filtering in through the doorway faintly lit two figures moving about. One was shadowy at the edges, a little blurred, as if it wasn't quite there but seemed opaque enough to be alive. The other was solid and real, and as the thud also echoed through the room, it fell backwards to the floor – the blurred figure had shoved it hard in the chest.
Dr Marbles panted in fright as he stared, unbelieving, at the figure standing over him. He dared not say anything, for fear that this strange, dangerous creature would seriously injure him – the fact that the ones he truly wanted were coming, unknowing, into this carefully woven trap, was the only reason preventing this seemingly insane thing from hurting the doctor.
As voices began to be heard from not far off, Crimson paused in his poisonous glare of the terrified cyborg to glance up, towards the doorway. Hissing in pleasure between his teeth, he backed away from Dr Marbles and melted into the shadows, his position marked only by two flaming, bright crimson eyes…
Watching from his spot, Crimson saw a silhouette step into the doorway, then into the room, followed by three others. Chuckling silently to himself at the obvious stupidity of these children and the bird, he waved his hand at the door, which shut with a loud BANG that made the kids, Digit and Dr Marbles all jump violently.
"Hello, Matt."
The red-haired boy looked around wildly, his eyes not yet adjusted to the darkness of the room. As he staggered blindly backwards, he stumbled straight into something that, under further inspection, turned out to be a workbench. They were in Dr Marbles' workshop.
"You stupid child…"
He recognised that voice; it was something he wanted to forget, but would always remember in the darkest of dreams and places… the voice he heard in his nightmares...
"You…" he whispered. "No… it can't be… I killed you… I saw you die…"
"I did not die, though you may have already worked that out." Everyone gasped as the eyes materialised right in front of them, coming out of the darkness steadily. "Let us have some light, shall we?"
The lights in the workshop flickered to life, revealing the ever-terrifying, figure of Crimson Blade: commanding, fear-inspiring, utterly insane. Both Inez and Jackie recoiled from this creature of nightmares, recognising him immediately; Dr Marbles backed up against the wall, and Digit hid behind the two girls. Only Matt stood his ground as Crimson stepped forwards, only stopping when they were nearly eye-to-eye.
"Why are you here?" Matt demanded, fists clenching convulsively. "You should be burning in HELL by now!"
"Oh, believe me, what I have been living through is quite equivalent to that." The creature's scarlet eyes narrowed in remembrance of his self-inflicted pain and solitude.
"I'm back, Matt. I'm back with a vengeance. I'm going to kill you, finally, for the extended suffering you have put me through." Here he paused, gestured to his battered, slightly faded self. "I suggest you at least try to scream – though it wouldn't be in your supposed "heroic character", now, would it?" He began to laugh, grating like fingernails on a chalkboard.
"Shut up!"
Inez surreptitiously pulled Matt's sleeve, trying to get the boy's attention, but he paid her no mind whatsoever, struggling to keep his anger under control as he glared at Crimson Blade. Sighing, Inez shrugged to the rest of her friends, who were already halfway out the door – Crimson had not locked it. "I'll stay here," she mouthed to them, and Dr Marbles nodded, shepherding Jackie and Digit quietly outside.
Immediately upon hearing Matt's outburst, Crimson ceased his laughter and stared incredulously at the eleven-year-old, who was trembling with fury, face pale, eyes burning with hate. "You son of a bitch…" he murmured, drawing away and beginning to circle, like shark waiting to strike a potential victim. "You dare tell me - "
"I said, shut UP!" Matt thundered, rage coursing through his veins, pumping through his entire self. "Just shut up! You almost cost me my friends before! And now, somehow, you've managed to come back! It's just not fair! Although you wouldn't know anything about being fair…"
"Oh, do be quiet," Crimson, snapped mildly. "I've had enough of your childish tantrums. It's time for you to die, now and forever. No one can stop me… all but one of your friends has fled. Fools…"
Matt glanced over his shoulder, saw that Inez was the only one who remained with him, and motioned for her to leave. When the Hispanic girl refused, firmly shaking her head, eyes fixed on Crimson Blade - who was surveying them both with a sardonic smile on his twisted face - Matt sighed and turned his attention back to the creature.
"Ah. How heroic," Blade mocked cynically. "She waits for you, Matthew. Why don't you go with her? It's not like you're going to be able to get away from me." Still eyeing them bitterly, he grinned all the more widely and waited for a response.
"Don't fool yourself, Blade," Matt shot back, and, reaching out and taking Inez's hand, he began to back away towards the door, inch by inch. "You've failed too many times to be able to catch me again. You're a failure, and always will be!"
"Hah!" Crimson laughed loudly, closing those glittering scarlet eyes in the midst of his mirth. "I think you're mistaken on who is the fool here."
"Well, I'll just leave you to figure that out!" Matt snapped, and suddenly darted for the door, shoving it open, Inez slipping through beside him.
As the boy knew he would, Crimson followed him, eyes gleaming insanely in the light. The redhead caught a glimpse of the creature speeding up to a run, arms outstretched to take him like some kind of fell zombie, and quickly slammed the door, keeping one hand clutched tightly on the handle. There was a loud THOCCK, the door rattled - then silence. Utter silence.
Dr Marbles and Jackie waited for them a little ways down the corridor; Jackie gestured for Inez to come, but the girl shook her head, pointed at the closed door. Digit had gone to reboot and warn Motherboard.
The four of them held their breath, and listened carefully, waiting for something to happen. The electric silence lasted for what seemed like an age, until Matt sighed, released the handle, and backed away to the opposite wall, still looking warily at the closed door.
It was when he relaxed fractionally and started to gesture to his friends to leave that Crimson Blade's Blackjack hand smashed through the wooden door, groping, his hand searching along the floor, feverishly, desperately. When he failed to grasp what he was searching for -
CRASH! The other hand broke through the door, sending splinters and pieces of wood flying through the air.
Jackie screamed; Inez turned white; Dr Marbles froze. Matt drew back, hesitant, watching as Crimson, apparently not quite satisfied with the current situation, drew back and kicked the door down, stepping over it with a triumphant look on his face.
"You cannot run from me, pathetic human boy!" he cried gleefully, and it was then that Matt saw the true insanity that ran below the surface of a cunning mind: the insanity that blinds, the insanity that takes control, the insanity that is the driving force behind the murderous intentions.
Before he could get a good start on Blade and escape along with his companions, the creature moved swiftly towards him and slammed a hand into Matt's chest, full force, knocking the boy backwards to the ground. Winded, Matt tried to get up, but failed – the pain was still too much. Diving forwards, Crimson then planted a knee on Matt's aching chest, pinning him down, and then placed his mismatched hands around the boy's throat. It was then that he began to tighten his grip.
Matt fought to get free, but under the painfully strong hold of Crimson's hands, resistance was futile. As the creature's grip tightened further, he began to choke, airway cut off. He couldn't breathe, couldn't move… and the entire time those glaring eyes were burning into his, as if they might pierce his soul itself.
"There is no escape… I'll always be there, Matt. Wherever you go, however many times you manage to elude me, I will always find you. But, it looks like your final curtain has arrived." The quietly whispered words into his ear made Matt's blood boil with rage he had never experienced before in his life.
"I hate you…" he gasped, through tightly clenched teeth. "I hate you…"
Crimson took absolutely no notice of this statement; he merely smiled grimly, his attention focused entirely on the boy, and continued to put his full strength into crushing the life out of his victim. Matt felt himself growing somewhat dizzy, but refused to let himself stop fighting… with limbs that were turning numb from lack of oxygen, he attempted to shove his hand into Crimson's face – therefore obstructing his vision and perhaps distracting the creature – but his slowing mind let him down, and he missed.
The world was starting to dim… it darkened until all he could see were the bright crimson eyes… they widened as Crimson realised he had almost succeeded in his lifelong dream, then narrowed once more as the creature began to speak again.
"Can you feel it, Matt? Can you feel the proximity of Death? I hope he punishes you dearly of the lives you've cost me…" He paused, no doubt for frightening emphasis. "I hope you have a very painful condemnation."
Then Matt realised, as his struggles grew weaker, as he continued to choke, his lungs desperate for air, gasping… there was no hope. No way he could get free. Crimson Blade was just too strong for him… for any of them… Finally, the creature had just about gotten what he had wanted for so long.
He was going to die, here and now.