And The Lies Continue to Crumble
An AcceleRacers Fanfiction
By: Wings of Speed
Disclaimer: Look in the first chapter, you'll find it there.
Summary: It's hard to tell the truth from the lies when you're in so thick you can't remember one from the other or what was originally a lie and what was originally the truth. Vert discovers in a rather dramatic fashion that those he considered his closest relatives are in all actuality: the enemy.
Warning: This chapter may not be suitable for younger readers since there is mention and thoughts of murder. Some of the scenes may not be appropriate for those that do not like the mention of homicide or death scenes.
And The Lies Continue to Crumble
Chapter 4: The Dangers of the Imperative
Agent Technetium, it is time to wake. The Conditioning has finished its modifications and the mission awaits its completion. Time is of the essence and the completion of this mission is crucial in the fulfillment of our great plans. You must wake, NOW!
The disembodied voice echoed through her head, demanding to be heard and obeyed. It gave the impression that there would be grave consequences if its orders were not obeyed to the fullest.
She fought against the darkness that still attempted to wrap its velveteen arms around her, that still attempted to pull her back into the blackness that didn't want to let her go without a fight. The darkness that didn't want to relinquish its hold on her very easily. She fought her way through the gray mists that seemed to continue on for all eternity, giving the ethereal feel of never ending, being all consuming.
A groan escaped from her throat and muscles agonized at the sudden movement, having been dormant for what seemed like forever or more. Eyelids fluttered, but did not fully open, fearful of the light that was sure to greet them once they did finally open.
It is time to wake Agent Technetium; you have a mission to complete.
She raised a hand, as if swatting at an unseen insect; trying in vain to swat at the voice that was sounding in her head. She only wanted it to go away, to let her alone so she could continue to sleep in peaceful oblivion. She only wanted peace at that moment, she didn't want to obey, but it seemed her mind and body had other plans in store for her.
Without her consciously realizing it, her mind sent an order to her eyes to open. They did just that and she squinted in annoyance at the bright light that suddenly greeted her. She tried in vain to close them again, but they refused to acknowledge her order and instead remained opened.
Nothing like having ones body revolt openly against oneself.
Then she suddenly felt her body jolt, muscles complaining at the sudden unwanted movement. Legs swung over the edge of the bed she was on and hands grasped the side of the mattress in a death grip, knuckles turning white with the pressure.
Her feet hit the floor with a dull thud, planting firmly on the hard ground beneath. She surveyed her surrounding with a practiced eye, long hours of training to notice every little detail ingrained in her brain, in her psyche. She was in a medical facility, but by the appearance of it she was quickly able to deduce that it was not one that belonged to the Silencerz. There were similarities, but differences as well.
She sifted through memories, trying to locate the one that would tell her exactly how she had ended up here in her current predicament. She was apparently in an enemy medical facility, but why she was there was not apparent as of yet.
She thought back through the past couple of days, replaying her mission and objectives. She remembered that she and Courtney had been ordered to follow Vert and recapture him. They had followed him for several hours before finally realizing that he was approaching the territory that belonged to the Atomic Winds, their own racing gang. It hadn't taken long then to arrange a meeting with their teammates and eventually 'run' into Vert along the way.
The days following were a blur. They had revealed to Vert about Serena's 'death'. Had even come with Vert to where he and the rest of those who worked for Peter Tezla were holed up at. Had even managed to infiltrate the ranks without much in the way of setbacks…other than her growing dislike of Karma Eiss and Tezla's own niece Kara. She didn't actually dislike Kara, there just seemed to be too much similar in the two of them…they were to much a like not to clash. Perhaps if she wasn't working for the Silencerz and Kara wasn't Tezla's niece, things would be different, but she was and she was and things weren't.
Then there was the 'destruction' of Bass Assault. And then the wreck that had destroyed Street Thunder…and Shirako...
That was why she was here. Her mission had been compromised because of the Teku raver. Her interest in him would make it difficult for her to complete what she was supposed to do.
The imperative had asserted itself.
Now there would be no chances of goof ups. No chances that Vert would be able to get away from her.
She surveyed her surroundings again, taking in every little detail. There was much here that was reminiscent of the Silencerz technology, a lot of it stolen from them.
She watched as a young woman entered the infirmary. Previous debriefings identified her as being Lani Tam, Tezla's assistant to a degree. Miss Tam turned her head to look in the direction of where Trinity was now sitting up on the bed at. A flash of surprise crossed Tezla's assistant's face, then she smiled warmly and approached Trinity.
"I see you're finally awake," Lani said warmly, the smile still plastered on her face.
Trinity's eyes briefly looked the other girl over, her mind assessing the possible threat from this one person. The girl barely even registered as being the barest of threats. A mental image flashed before Trinity's eyes. She saw Lani lying on the floor, her own blood soaking her cloths from a knife to the heart. It would be so easy and there was no one here to stop her from killing the other girl, no one to interfere.
"Are you ok Trinity?" Lani questioned.
Lani's voice broke Trinity from her thoughts and her blue eyes slowly refocused on the other girl, the mental image cataloged in her sub-conscious for further evaluation. "What was that?" Trinity asked, allowing a calm mask to eclipse her emotions and betraying no feelings to the other girl. It was never a good idea to allow the enemy to know your thoughts, no matter what they might be.
"I asked if you were ok, you seemed to kind of space out there for a moment and I was just wondering if you were ok. It was probably just a side effect of being out for the past day and a half and wrecking your cousin's car probably didn't help matters much."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Trinity agreed, there was no reason to alert any of these people to the change that had occurred, they wouldn't know a thing until it was to late to begin with. "I was just trying to figure out how I ended up here…the last thing I remember is coming around a turn, then nothing." She looked up at Lani, a look of confusion playing across her face. The one thing about Silencerz agents, they were masters of disguise and had mastered their emotions, calling on any emotion at whim.
Lani smiled down at Trinity, "You did a pretty good number on Courtney's car. It's totaled and sitting with your Lancer and Kara's Sunfire down in the garage bays. Shirako took a look at it earlier to see if any parts of it were salvageable but the explosion of the NOS tanks seems to have completely destroyed everything."
Trinity looked at her blankly, playing the part of someone that couldn't remember what had happened in the past two days when in truth she could almost give a detailed description of everything. "Street Thunder's totaled?"
"Yeah, you did a pretty good number on her. When Shirako found you, you'd wrapped the car around a telephone pole. I guess from what he's told us, it wasn't very pretty." Lani explained, telling Trinity things she already knew.
Another image of Lani lying on the floor in a pool of blood flooded her senses and Trinity had to physically grab hold of the bed sheets beneath her to keep from grabbing the nearest sharp object and stabbing the other girl with it. She had to mentally fight the imperative or she would end up killing Lani for no other reason than the fact that she was on an enemy team and was a hazard to the completion of the Silencerz objectives.
"Lani, it would be best if you let me alone right now," Trinity choked out in a voice that wanted to come out in a snarl. Apparently the Imperative and Conditioning weren't completely in control if she still had some control over her cognizant awareness. But did she have enough strength and willpower to fight it? Or would it take over completely and those she had come to care about pay the ultimate price for her weakness?
"What?" Lani asked, taking a step back from the other girl as her eyes opened wide in surprise. Trinity had sounded almost feral in her tone. By the look in her eyes she appeared to be waging an internal war, a battle she was apparently not winning.
"I said it would be best if you get out of here right now!" Trinity growled as her eyes came back up to meet those of Lani. Trinity's blue eyes were hard and so very, very cold. "Leave before I do something I'm bound to regret later." This was said with a snarl, her upper lip curling up like some predatory animal. She looked feral, wild…primal!
Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the side of the bed even harder, "Go Lani!" she nearly howled, the pain and agitation adding a note of vexation to the Silencerz agent's voice. "Go! Now, run! I can't control it…" her voice trailed off as her eyes turned an even colder shade of blue, as cold as the most distant icebergs in the artic. "But if you'd like to see what I'm capable of, I'd be more than happy to comply."
What little emotions had been left on Trinity's face disappeared and a mask of indifference appeared in their place. Her eyes held no warmth and feelings of compassion seemed to be something this creature of darkness and hate was incapable of expressing. The only emotions that played readily on her face was the emotions of hate and anger…She looked capable of killing someone without feeling an ounce of regret for doing so.
Lani backed up slowly, her hands going up in a sign of submission, trying to appease the sudden savage beast that seemed to have been unleashed within Vert's cousin. Her eyes never left Trinity, fearing that to do so would give the beast the chance to pounce and attack. She had to wonder if Trinity had bumped her head hard enough to scatter her wits to the winds, 'cause it was certainly seeming that way at the moment.
But would such a bump on the head cause such a severe change in ones personality? It was something that Lani highly doubted, but something certainly had caused a change in this girl Vert called cousin.
She could never imagine anyone's eyes looking that cold and calculating. Looking that evil and restless as Trinity's now were. The girl looked like she'd have no qualms about literally biting someone's head off. She looked downright evil, sadistic even.
"That's a good little girl, just leave the big bad wolf alone and the wolf will let you alone," Trinity growled, her eyes watching every move Lani made, never once taking her eyes off of her. Indeed, she was like a cougar watching the elusive deer, waiting for just the perfect moment to strike. And strike she would, when the perfect opportunity presented itself.
Lani bolted from the medical facility, never looking back as she ran to find someone, anyone. She didn't know what was up with Trinity, but from what she knew of the girl from Vert, this behavior was not normal. Such mood changes are usually a good indication of a severe concussion, but such diabolical behavior? To go from someone who seems nice enough to someone so thoroughly evil sounding? It just couldn't be normal in any respect.
Trinity watched the frightened deer's flight, a sardonic smile playing at the edges of her lips. Now, there was one objective and one objective only and woe be to those that managed to get in her way. Death would rain on this day in blinding sheets of red if anyone tried to stop her from doing her duty.
She would fulfill her mission and see to it that Vert was delivered to those in command of the Silencerz. His fate was as much sealed as hers was at that moment, there would be no denying destiny now. No where to run or hide, no way to escape. Vert would be theirs by the end of the night and there would be no one to stop her from seeing to it.
Another image flooded her senses as she took her first step from the med-bed. Blood ran in waves and the cries of the dieing and wounded echoed in her ears. Faces flashed before her eyes, some pale in death while others were nearly unrecognizable from the blood splattered across their bodies. She saw Nolo, lying across the hood of his nearly completely constructed car. His eyes were locked in a death stare, blood trickling from a wound on his forehead as it also ran from the corners of his mouth.
She also saw Karma, a jagged gash running from stomach to chest, her lips frozen in a grimace of pain. Taro laid not far from the Teku's body, his hands outstretched toward her, as if he were trying to get to her before the last of his life faded from his body.
A truly evil grin spread across her face as she saw Pork Chop's body…his body looked like it had been tortured far worse than the others and apparently spasms had wracked him before death came to claim him. Red welts were visible on his neck, apparently where she had strangled him with something…then she saw the culprit. The wires of a headphone set…ones she had used to carry in Assault.
She threw her head back in laughter and it came out rather sadistic sounding, like something from a madman, which she truthfully had become. There was a gleam in her eyes, the gleam of someone who had gone insane and the smile that crossed her face matched it perfectly.
If she had her own way, no one would walk away from this large manor in one piece, let alone alive.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Lani ran through the hallways, not really paying attention to where she was running, just wanting to put as much distance between herself and Trinity. Something had snapped in the other girl and she was beyond convinced that Vert's cousin was now a danger to them. Was it wise to leave her alone in the med facility? Alone and unsupervised, to do as she pleased? Hack into their computer systems perhaps?
Lani shook her head, refusing to give into her thoughts, to dwell on what could happen and what might happen. She had to find Tezla, Vert…somebody, anybody! She had to alert someone to the tyrant that had just woken up…maybe if she found one of the Atomic Winds, they could shed some light on what was happening. Maybe they'd know what was going on with their leader, be able to tell her if this was something normal and if she'd snap out of given time to do so.
Or would she turn deadly? Turn on them and kill eventually if given the chance? It was hard to imagine someone like that being related to Vert…it just didn't seem possible. But what did they actually know about Vert and his family? Not a whole lot, then again, they really didn't know a lot about one another…didn't know what the family ties were like and whose parents were still alive. Didn't know who had siblings…other than Nolo and that was only because of the feud that had existed between the Teku leader and the Maniacs leader.
She came to an abrupt stop and found herself falling backwards, to land hard on her butt. She glanced up, then down and discovered herself looking at Leti, Shirako's cousin. The Asian girl was rubbing her head, apparently where they'd both butted heads. "Sorry," Lani said quickly as she scrambled to her feet.
She extended a hand and helped Leti to her feet. "Where are you to in such a hurry?" Leti asked, as she continued to rub the now forming red bump on her left temple.
"Trying to find Dr. Tezla or Vert. Anybody!" Lani answered, her voice rising with agitation and confusion and slight amount of fear. Adrenaline was still pumping through her system and causing her to shake violently. She crossed her arms before her, her hands clasping her biceps in a death grip.
"What's happened? You look like you've just seen a ghost or something."
"Trinity's awake," Lani answered, her voice breaking slightly. Well, she'd wanted to find one of the Winds and now here she had one.
"Um…ok…and why does that have you so worked up? Is she all right?"
"Yes…no…I don't know!" Lani nearly screamed in hysterics.
Leti raised an eyebrow in confusion. From what she understood about this girl from Shirako, she was usually pretty down to earth. She had her moments and such, but everyone did…right now she was coming across as being really hysterical though. "What do you mean you don't know? She's either ok or she's not. It's not a trick question after all, ya know."
Lani shook her head, bringing her hands up to her temples and rubbing the headache that was starting to form there. She didn't know how to explain what had happened. The look in Trinity's eyes had been downright scary, she shivered now just thinking about it. "She looked wild Leti…ready to kill. Her eyes were so cold, emotionless, like those of a predator. She looked like she wanted to eat me!"
Leti didn't know whether to laugh in the girl's face or try to comfort her. She seemed to be babbling in nonsense, almost seemed to be describing Serena instead of Trinity.
A frown crossed her features and her slanted almond shaped eyes took on a far away look. Her mind sifted back to about a year or so ago…to the time of Rocky's death and the emotional trauma that had clutched at her friend and leader at the time. At the time, Trinity seemed to have a death wish…she became wreckless and no matter what anyone said to her, she wouldn't snap out of it.
Then she had went a way for about a month or so…and when she came back, she was herself again, but not. She was different, almost withdrawn. Her heart was back where it was supposed to be, but her mind seemed to have slipped to somewhere else. She had changed and only those that were close to her had taken notice of the change. She was a little colder and became irritated when her commands were not obeyed to the tee.
She eventually snapped out of it, but it took a good four or five months until she did. Apparently she'd reverted back to that time with a vengeance. They would have to be careful until she decided to return to herself, she could snap…and no one, not even the Winds, had a clue what she was capable of when she did.
She smiled at Lani, trying to put the other girl at ease. "I'll go talk to her, see what's going on. You might want to find Courtney and let her now. She's usually the only one that can get through to Trin at times like these, she's the only one that Trin will usually even half-heartedly listen to." She paused as she remembered something else, "And if you can find Shirako…bring him as well."
With that said, she didn't wait for an answer, she instead turned on her heel and headed in the general direction of the med facility. Hopefully she'd walk out of there in one piece.
Well, this chapter certainly took a turn for the worse, now didn't it? We get a look at the sadistic side of the Silencerz and what they are capable of when they're not controlling their own actions. This is just a taste of what is to come so expect more drama and dark altercations in the future as Trinity, Serena and the rest of the Silencerz close their trap around the one they most desperately want. Woe be to those that just happen to get in their way.
Shout outs…
Firedragon: Moon would be the guy who works on the Winds cars as well as keeping their backup cars in the garage.
Kara: Well, I already know you read this chapter and am expecting the next chapter…but as of yet it's not done, though at 17 pages I'm thinking of splitting it into a couple chapters. I know I sometimes get annoyed with really long chapters…but I also like long ones, it makes for a nice read but Chapter 5 is getting entirely to long…I don't even think I'm halfway done with it. Glad to see you updated, now I just got to let a review for you…I'm being lazy once more. Oh, plus if you've got any ideas for a collaboration between the two of us, let me know. I've got a few ideas and one that you may really like.
Moriko: Yeah, it'll be a couple more chapters until the identity of the evil lady is revealed, but rest assured she'll get what's coming to her. Though I'm not sure yet who's going to give her her due. I'm also glad you're not threatening me…though sometimes threats can get results (that's in no way a hint to start threatening again! I don't want Wylde trying to beat me, Trin or Shirako up!)
Dark672: I'd be glad to refresh your memory for you. Leti Orimoto, drives Powerdyne, the yellow Mustang and is Shirako's cousin. Mikey Douglas, drives Omega One, the Civic and Jon Ryder, drives…um, actually forgot what the car is called (other than Gas Hog), but I do know it is a Neon. After checking over my notes, the Neon is called Thunderhead but everyone else calls it Crash & Burn.
Kawaii: Nope, it's certainly not Serena. The sadistic woman was introduced in the previous story, though her appearance was short lived. Though she and Trinity most certainly do not see eye to eye, Trinity holds a deep hate for this woman.
Well, I guess five reviews ain't to bad…but more would really be good. But I can't complain to much when I've been rather lax on the notion of reviewing myself. I'll get back in the swing of things at some point.
Hope you enjoyed this latest chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.