"You!" the older Shiris screamed, "you were the one! You were the boy who killed my father! You, Damian, are the man that I vowed to kill!"
She stared up into his eyes, unable to move because of her anger and amazement, and knew from his eyes that he now knew her as well.
"You were the girl, the one I never killed," he murmured in a fantastical voice, "Why didn't I see it before? Why—"
Shiris launched herself at him and they tumbled into the hallway, the other five watching as she punched him in the face.
"T minus ten seconds,""Hey, lets take care of this later, okay?" Duo cried as he saw a blackish mist begin to seep into the chamber.
Shiris leaned down over the stunned Damian's face and took out the vial.
"This is a long time overdue," she hissed, and poured it onto his face.
He screamed and brushed madly at his cheek only to have it spread to his hands, and he screamed even louder. He frantically felt around on the ground for his lighter, remembering what Sethin had said about its weakness. Shiris started laughing deep in her throat at his pain, wishing she could have burned him to death in a house.
The mist was spreading quickly through the chamber and was almost at the hole.
Trowa slammed the door shut, grabbed Shiris around the waist, and lifted her off Damian.
"No! Let me go! I have to kill him!" she shouted, lunging towards the kicking man.
"T-59 now released into chamber,""No, we have to leave. He'll be killed, don't worry, especially after what you did to him," he said as they turned the corner and Damian disappeared out of sight.
Shiris couldn't believe she had finally found him and killed him. She would have liked to watch for a little longer, but now that her mind had shifted gears, she did want to get out of there alive.
"You can put me down," she said slowly to Trowa.
"Are you sure you wont run back there and try to finish him off?" he asked, but put her down.
They had reached the large room that they had met Sethin in.
"How do we get out?" Julie cried as the computer announced they had nine minute until the base blew.
"I have no idea. It's too much of a hike to go back to where we started from, so Sethin must have another exit somewhere. Check all the other doors," Hiiro ordered, moving to the one nearest him. Duo went to one across from him and found it was an elevator.
"Come on, I got it! Hurry!" he shouted and pressed the up button. Nothing happened. The little light didn't light up; nothing made a noise.
"Oh no, he didn't!" Trowa exclaimed.
"I think he did," Hiiro muttered when the elevator didn't arrive.
Sethin must have dismantled it.
"But what about Damian? Wasn't he supposed to join him?" Duo asked confusedly, remembering the conversation they had heard before the door had been sealed.
"There must be another way out!" Julie said and started scanning the room.
"We don't have time," Hiiro said when the computer reminded them another minute had passed. "We need to get out using this elevator shaft."
"You mean climb up it?" Julie asked, realizing the answer when Hiiro tried to open the two doors.
Duo and Trowa joined him and between the three of them they managed to force the doors open and reveal a gaping black hole with a few cables trailing upwards.
Hiiro peered up and saw the elevator a few floors up.
"There's a grate on the bottom of the elevator and we can use the cables to climb up," he said and leaned over and gripped a thick cable.
"Hiiro, be careful!" Mayumi cried when he lost his footing and swung into the chasm, hanging only by one hand. He quickly gripped it tightly with two and began to hoist himself up.
Mayumi followed him and swiftly started pulling herself up. The shaft was very dark and reeked of oil, and occasionally she would hit a slippery spot on the cable.
From inside the shaft they could faintly hear the computer again.
"We have seven minutes, Hiiro, moved your butt!" Duo called up just as Hiiro punched in the grate and lifted himself into the elevator.
After helping Mayumi up, he pressed the DOOR OPEN button. With a 'ping', the doors slid open and he saw they were in a totally new section of the base, one they had never seen before. Luckily, they only had one way to go.
Without bothering to see if everyone had made it, he ran to the door to the left and found a corridor leading to another elevator, one that hopefully worked.
Duo was the last one out and he immediately followed everyone else to the second elevator, hopefully one that would take them all the way up to the street.
Hiiro pressed the button and sighed quietly when he heard the elevator grind down, sounding like music to his ears.
"T minus three minutes,"
"Come on," Trowa murmured, shifting from one foot to the other.
Finally it opened and they piled in and pressed the button marked 1.
With a whir it propelled them up 35 floors and Julie popped her ears. Everyone was standing perfectly still, not daring to say anything least the elevator stop. Even Duo was quiet, a trickle of sweat on his forehead. Everyone could hear the ticking of the clock in their minds, knowing it was counting down to what could be their death if they didn't get out in five minutes.
Then they bounced to a stop and it opened into the lobby of the building, the security guard no longer present.
Without a thought they sprinted down the hallway and burst through the doors into the open sunlight, the light blinding them.