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.
And The Lies Continue to Crumble
Chapter 5: Into the Dragon's Mouth
Trinity walked out to the door control for the med-lab doors, her eyes carefully taking in every detail of the control panel. It was an older version of the door controls located within the Silencerz bases, no doubt another piece of equipment pirated from the Silencerz by Peter Tezla. Like just about everything else she had seen within Tezla's new base of operations…it was all stolen technology, stolen from those she worked for!
Anger seethed silently through her body and a growing need to strangle something eclipsed all rational thought. One way or another, Peter Tezla would pay for his misdeeds, one of the Silencerz Agents would see to that.
She gently laid a finger on the panel, running the pad of her index finger gently down and across the front of the panel. "If memory serves me right, there are two power sources for this particular model. The main and the auxiliary…take out the auxiliary source and it'll flood the main with an overload of stored energy. Effectively making the door unusable."
To bad I couldn't do the same thing to Tezla, she thought grimly.
There was the sound of pounding footsteps, causing Trinity's head to quickly jerk around toward the source of the new sound. Her long strawberry blond haired billowed around her, coming to rest once more against her back in long red-golden sheets. She pushed a few stray stands from before her eyes and regarded the hallway from which the steps were coming from with an air of deep concentration.
"Wonder who Lani managed to run into in such a short amount of time." She said softly to herself, her mind instantly ticking off the possibilities of who the newcomer could be. She glanced down at the watch on her right wrist, if things were going as planned, the two new cars should be arriving any minute now, if they hadn't arrived already.
The arrival of the two cars should have everyone busy, preoccupied outside of the manor. Leaving only Lani and Dr. Tezla in the building. Lani had already been dealt with and Tezla should be taken care of in just a matter of moments. As long as Serena was keeping her part of the deal and nothing had been screwed up.
"Guess I'd better get back in there so I can greet my guest properly," she said quietly as she walked back into the med-lab, the door whirring shut behind her.
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Serena peered cautiously around the bend in the hallway before her; the distance in front was deserted. As had been expected, everyone save for Dr. Tezla was out front gawking at the new car arrivals. The arrival of Bass Reflex and Livid Thunder would keep everyone occupied long enough for her and the rest of the Silencerz agents to complete that which they had come to do.
By the end of the night, it was a good possibility that there would be no one left alive in this manor. All that were possible rivals to the Silencerz ascent to ultimate power would be dealt with, and with their demise, there would be no one to stand in their way of total and utter domination.
She grinned wickedly as she took a basic combat stance and allowed her body to flow in a quick and efficient movement around the bend in the hallway. She twisted her body, ducking and rolling across the floor, her course taking her to the opposite wall. Her feet planted firmly on the floor and she pushed herself up with a fluid motion, her years with the Silencerz adding a catlike grace to her movements.
She was not the one who excelled in stealth and covert operations though, that was Trinity's specialty. Serena's specialty in life was torture and interrogation. No one could interrogate a prisoner quite the same as she could.
She spied the door at the end of the hallway, and if the information she'd been supplied with was correct, this was the room in which Tezla seemed to like to secrete himself in. He probably still as of yet, had no clue as to what was going on within his new base, probably didn't have a clue as to the danger that had been invited in via the front door.
Her grin turned sadistic as she lightly grabbed hold of the door handle and gave it a quick turn. She wasn't surprise to discover that it didn't so much as budge. She would've been surprised if it had opened, Tezla after all didn't like being interrupted.
Like any true Silencerz agent, she had a way around this slight obstacle. She grabbed a small device from the utility belt around her waist and placed it just below the door handle. It was strange to think that with all the advanced technology within the house, that Tezla would still use something as simple and archaic as a wooden door to protect his secret projects.
A wry grin spread across her face, for all of Tezla's intelligence one had to wonder if perhaps he wasn't quite as smart as everyone believed.
She touched a button on the device and watched patiently as twin lights winked on and off on it. They continued to wink in red for a few moments before they turned green and stayed on. The sound of a lock clicking could be heard and seconds later the door opened minutely, not a sound being heard as it opened on well oiled hinges.
"Probably mistake number one Tezla, you would have had some warning had the door made a noise."
"That's not so," a voice replied from within. "Any good agent would've suspected that it was entirely too easy getting into my study with such ease. I've known for quite a while that you were out there."
Serena walked into the study, her eyes momentarily colliding with those of Dr. Tezla's. "Ah, so at long last we finally meet. To bad there will only be one of us walking out of here alive."
"Indeed," Tezla retorted.
"Indeed," Serena repeated.
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With a cautious air, Leti stepped carefully into the med-lab, there was no telling what Trinity would be doing or what sort of mood she would be in, or if she was even still in the med-lab. If what Lani had said was true and Trinity had reverted back to her alternate self, the person she had been after Rocky's death, then there would be no telling what the young woman would be capable of doing.
Her moods had been fickle at that time; her hold on sanity had just been by a bare thread. For her to have returned to that state of mind could just be a disaster waiting to happen. The question was: What had caused her to return to this person that Leti hadn't been able to recognize back then? That person had not been the Trinity Leti had grown up with. Back then, Trinity had become a complete stranger to Leti and everyone else she had been acquainted with.
Leti cautiously peered around the opened door, her eyes slowly surveying everything within the room. She spotted Trinity a couple of paces from the open door; the other girl's back facing the doorway. Trin was bent down near an open drawer, her hands rummaging around within the drawer. It appeared she was looking for something specific.
But what, Leti wasn't certain of.
She stepped cautiously into the room, hoping not to startle Trinity. To do so could only end up in something terrible. "Trinity?" she spoke softly, hoping not to allow any inflection of the fear that was coursing through her body to enter her voice. Trinity didn't respond, didn't even give any indication that she had heard her. "Trinity?" she tried again, a little louder this time as she moved further into the room.
This time Trinity did acknowledge her, but it was not exactly in the way Leti had been expecting. She suddenly found herself pinned against the wall, Trinity's hand ruthlessly gripping her throat, nearly cutting off her oxygen supply. She gasped, trying to draw in much needed air, her eyes locking with those of her friend. She didn't recognize the eyes staring back at her though.
The blue eyes looking back at her were emotionless…cold, unfeeling, uncaring…not the warm, merriment filled eyes that were normally Trinity Wheeler. "Trin…ity…" she just barely managed to gasp out.
Trinity's eyes narrowed as she clasped her hand tighter around the other's neck. "You shouldn't be here," she spit out, her face now only inches from Leti's. "Your best bet right now, when I let go of your throat, is to leave this room and pretend you never saw a thing. That's only if you want to live…if you don't, then go ahead and start babbling to the first person you come across. I can only guarantee one thing though; if you should choose to do this…your death will be inevitable."
The thrill of the hunt was coursing through Trinity's bloodstream, and the thought of possible bloodshed started her body humming with anticipation. The Imperative, the conditioning, both were in full effect, straining for the completion of the mission.
Her lips curved up in a wicked smile, "I will find you Leti, no matter where you may run. I will find you and enjoy putting an end to this miserable existence you call a life. As well as ending the lives of all those you so chose to talk to, all those you care about. The ones you love."
Her mind suddenly flashed with hideous images of blood bathing her outstretched hands, splatters of blood coating anything within a ten foot radius. Indeed, the Imperative was in complete control and it was lusting for blood. This was a strange side effect that had never been documented in all the years that agents had been through the Conditioning and later installed with the Imperative. This was a side effect that had never been displayed and with that newfound knowledge came a brief flash of uncertainty.
Something was not right, something was very, very wrong.
Leti stared into her cold and fathomless eyes, "You're…not…Trinity," she gasped out, struggling against the hand that was still clenched around her throat. "Trinity wouldn't do this!" She fought against this stranger, her panic adding fuel to her struggles.
The wicked smile turned into a sneer and the blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "Who are you to tell me who I am or who I am not? You who has her back to the wall and gasping for air?" Her teeth flashed in a feral snarl, "I am indeed Trinity and I am also your worst nightmare."
The hand tightened even more around her throat, completely cutting off her supply of air. Leti closed her eyes, not wanting to look at this stranger any longer. She could feel the pinpricks of tears on the back of her eyelids and she fought to keep her tears at bay. She would not show weakness in front of this person.
"Courtney's coming," she managed to gasp out; just as black dots began to flicker on the back of her closed eyelids. She was close to succumbing to the blackness that was even now reaching out toward her.
She felt the hand loosen its grip and she slumped to the floor, one of her hands almost immediately going to her throat. She opened her eyes and scooted further back against the wall, a futile attempt to put as much distance as possible between her and this person she was certain was not her friend and teammate. She eyed Trinity wearily, not certain what the other's next move would be.
"What?" Trinity asked, her eyes narrowing even more as the word came out as a barely suppressed snarl.
"You heard me," Leti responded, her voice raspy from the abuse her throat had been forced to endure. "Courtney's coming and Shirako will probably be with her."
Trinity's eyes narrowed even further, now becoming nearly mere slits. "You've made two mistakes there Leti: your first was involving Courtney in this and your other mistake and probably your greatest, was involving Shirako in it. Courtney I could deal with, her life wouldn't be forfeit…unlike Shirako…well, he won't be as lucky."
Leti, her mouth working like that of a fish out of water, stared up at Trinity. "You would kill him Trinity? You would honestly kill Shirako?" Her eyes became watery once more and she fought against the tears that so badly wanted to fall, but she couldn't let them. "I thought you cared for him Trinity!" She screamed at her team leader.
A sardonic laugh escaped from Trinity's lips, "At one point I probably did. At one point I probably cared for all of you, but emotions are now beneath me. If he gets in my way…if you get in my way, I won't hesitate to kill either of you. No one, and I mean no one, will interfere with the job I've been sent here to do."
Trinity whirled around, completely ignoring the other girl now. "It would be in your best interest not to move now Leti, you won't get very far if you try to leave this room anyhow. You should have listened to me when you had the chance, now your fate is out of my hands." She threw over her shoulder, not even bothering to look at Leti or seeing the look of horror that had suddenly crossed the other's face. "I won't hesitate to kill you old friend, and I wouldn't even blink an eye in the process." She turned completely to face Leti for just a few moments as a sneer crossed her face, "Or would you like to test me on that theory?"
"I'd be only too happy to accommodate you on that."
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Courtney stared at the woman, her mind back flashing through images she had thought she'd put in her past, images she had thought she'd completely forgotten about. Apparently she had been completely wrong and the past had decided to saunter its way right back into the present.
That was just her luck, it seemed the past always liked to come up and bite you when you least expected it to…or wanted it to for that matter.
The woman smiled at her, showing pearly whites that reminded the young woman of the grin of a wolf. The woman was the predator and Courtney unfortunately had fallen into the role of the prey.
Court held her stance, her center of gravity low, waiting for the woman to make the first move and come at her. She rolled her weight to the balls of her feet, lightly balancing, and it became a game of waiting. She watched the older woman, bits and pieces of her training with the Silencerz flashing through her mind in a blaze and her muscles instantly tensed or relaxed, depending on the orders they were receiving from her brain.
"Come now," the woman clucked as she approached Courtney. "That's no way to greet an old friend, now is it? I was delighted when I learned we'd be delivering these beautiful cars to you and your cousin." Her so called delight certainly didn't reach her eyes, if anything, there was malevolence in her pale blue orbs. And the grin that spread across her face was not any better, it seemed full of sadistic glee.
Out of the pan and into the fire. Better yet, as Trinity had always been so found of saying: Out of the den and into the dragon's jaws.
"What's going on?" Vert asked softly as he approached his cousin and this unknown woman. Courtney apparently knew her from somewhere and judging by the look on her face, she wasn't too thrilled at all to see the lady. "Do you know her Court?"
Courtney's eyes widened momentarily, she had almost completely forgotten about Vert and his friends being there, she'd been so caught up with the appearance of this…this woman. She couldn't think of a nasty word to describe the lady at the time, there weren't any suitable enough to give definition to her thoughts and opinions of this abomination that called itself a human being.
Courtney turned to face Vert, her eyes momentarily searching his. Her eyes were trying to communicate something silently to him, trying to tell him something he couldn't understand. "Vert," she said softly, she felt hollow inside, she wanted to spill everything, tell him everything she knew about this woman and the Silencerz…but to do that would be like signing her life away. Would be like signing her own death certificate and that was something she really wasn't ready to commit to yet.
Besides, there was also the fact that to reveal anything she knew would also put his life and everyone else's in danger as well. If she lived through this mess, would she be able to live with herself if something happened to one of these people? She honestly didn't think so.
But she highly doubted that she'd live through this ordeal though. The Silencerz would make certain that she and any she talked to about the Silencerz secret affairs would be silenced forever.
"Courtney?" he asked softly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her eyes were filled with despair and guilt and he couldn't understand why.
Her gaze briefly left his, searching the rest of the crowd, his gathered friends. She met Nolo's eyes for a moment then moved onto the next. Karma. Kara. Shirako. Kurt…all these people could be dead in a matter of moments if she wasn't careful.
"Courtney!" the shout came from the front of the manor, near the main entrance.
Courtney's eyes quickly sought out the owner of the voice, not being able to place it right away. She spotted Lani running toward them, one of her hands gripping her side as if she were in pain. A look of horror was etched on her face; her eyes seemed almost wild with fright.
Nolo was the first to move, his sudden motion taking him immediately to the distraught woman. He caught her just as her legs gave out from beneath her, almost causing her to crash to the ground. "Lani?" he asked softly, "What's wrong?"
She looked up at him then directed her gaze to Courtney, "It's Trinity, she's woken up but there's something not right. Something's very wrong."
"What do you mean?" Courtney asked, her gaze sweeping over Lani quickly. Lani looked fine; she didn't appear to be hurt. Other than the fact that she was holding her side, but that was probably from running all the way here from the med-lab.
Then Court turned to look over her shoulder at the woman who now stood about ten feet behind her. She knew deep in her gut that this woman had something to do with what was happening now and that knowledge set a deep shudder of dread coursing through her body. "What's not right?" Her eyes returned to Lani, watching as the other young woman tried shakingly to get her feet back beneath her.
Lani gently shook Nolo's hands off and slowly approached Courtney, she gripped the blond in a death grip, her fingers wrapping tightly around Courtney's upper arms. She shook her head, not certain how to explain what had transpired within the med-lab. "She wasn't herself," she said weakly. "It was like she woke up a different person…someone evil."
Courtney's eyes opened wide in shock and she took a step back from Lani. She turned slowly to look at the woman, their eyes meeting and holding. The woman smiled wickedly. "I guess it would be imperative that you go check on your cousin, wouldn't it? Wouldn't want her hurting innocent people, now would we?"
To say that the grin that spread across the woman's face was sadistic, would be an understatement. The grin on her face was pure evil…malicious.
This was originally the first 8 pages of a chapter that spanned 20-some pages…just a bit too long in my opinion. I didn't want to bore you with my overly descriptive methods of writing and I do honestly know that I describe things entirely too much. It's one of my worst habits and if it gets on your nerves…well, deal with it! Sorry, bad humor there, just the type of mood I'm in at the moment.
Now onto the shout outs…
Moriko: Please no, don't think about the threat thing! As for how Trin's going to beat Wylde up…well, she's a Silencerz agent, who said she's going to play fair? Fair at this moment in time is not something that is in her vocabulary…rule number 1 of the Imperative: Finish your objective at all costs, no matter what must be done. The mission must be completed.
ZachCoggin: Well, I'm not sure what's up…but apparently you're the only one having such problems. I looked the chapter over to see if it was happening on my computer, but everything was fine…so I'm not sure and no one else made mention of the same type of problem. Hopefully this chapter won't be screwed up for you.
Kara: Well girl, I don't think there's much I can say to you I haven't already. Congrats on the basketball league though and hopefully softball is going good. I already sent you the first chapter of our story, just let me know what you think, take your time though if you're busy, we're in no hurry here after all.
Firedragon: Trinity's basically already possessed…the main question is going to be, will she be able to fight the programming of the Silencerz or is she going to complete her mission and basically kill everyone that gets in her way? Guess you'll have to continue reading to find that answer out…evil, aren't I?
Kawaii: Long time…most popular author? Wow…such lovely praise though I'm not certain I deserve it. I think there are other authors out there that are a lot better than myself…I just haven't found them yet. dodges thrown tomato Bit of humor there, I'm in a rare mood and I should be going to bed since I have to be up in about six hours to go to work. Sleep depravation is not always a good thing, lol. Lani will probably be doing more freaking out as the story progresses, we'll just have to wait and see. Not sure on the origin of Leti's name…I actually took it from the Fast and the Furious, just spelled it differently. Happy Easter to you too, though a bit late. And your reviews are never nonsense, so don't ever think they are. I enjoy them after all.
On a side note, I will no longer be responding to reviews in the chapters after this. I started a nice little forum thingy for the AcceleRacers (through the site) and will be responding to reviews through that. That's if I can remember to do so.