The most prominent sound in the ears of those held hostage at the very top of the Planeptune tower was now that of the footsteps of the Cyber-Dragon. None of them could see it, but they knew it was there, unfortunately. A sixty-foot tall, quad-minigun and plasma cannon-waving behemoth, which was currently making its' mark on the side of the Planeptune market tower in an attempt to get hold of a certain boorish Brit, then remove his limbs.
But, of course, that was outside.
Their real problem was the armed maniac sitting in the office chair at the end of the table, idly spinning a gigantic revolver around his finger, and his lackeys that were currently pacing the room and causing problems for hostages.
'Sir Ghee Cashbar', as they'd found out he was called, had stormed into that room at least three hours ago with three other men: A man in red with a helmet, who had recently left with one of the hostages to do a 'patrol'; A man wearing full black with armour and strange goggles that jammed all the phone signals, who had disappeared about two hours into the attack to 'jump Loondumb'; And finally, an incredibly tall man in a green suit of heavy metal armour, bristling with some gigantic guns. His face had been obscured by his helmet, so nobody knew exactly what he looked like, and he didn't say that much, but he had only just left the room to guard the 240th floor, apparently because "He's definitely on his way up."
Since then, a couple more of Sir Ghee's men had come into the room and set up.
So, now the room had exactly thirty three occupants.
That is, to say, twenty three hostages, and ten of Sir Ghee's soldiers.
The hostages themselves were an incredibly mixed bunch, but all hostages nonetheless.
Huddled in the back corner of the room was a group of nine businessmen and businesswomen. They'd been in aa boardroom meeting when it was so rudely interrupted by a hostage situation. One of them, Mickey Belch, was a contender for Leanbox's Presidential election, which would put him just below Chika Hakozaki in terms of power. Another was Eyebee Hem, a very influential inventor who had made her fortune by working with computers. Both of them were now terrified for their lives.
Lined up along the windows were ten completely random men and women. None of them even had the slightest clue as to what was going on, since they'd simply been grabbed and dragged to the top of the tower when it all kicked off.
Next to Sir Ghee's chair was Tekken. She was found at the R-18 Island merchandise store with a blindfold and handcuffs on. She also offered no resistance, and seemed to be enjoying herself, so Sir Ghee dragged her with him.
Trying to conceal herself behind a potted plant in the corner was Compa. So far, it was somehow working, but she was certain they knew she was somewhere in the room, since they didn't see her dart behind there. So, she simply had to sit there and try not to cry.
Trying to keep low-key was Nepgear. She'd been messing with some electrical equipment that she'd been meaning to buy when a burly man with a big green helmet and really weird accent grabbed her and used a rope to climb up to the top floor of the building. He also had a big gun and tripod strapped to his back, so she didn't really want to complain. But at this point, the best she could do was sit and hope they didn't want to hurt her.
And finally, sat defensively next to Nepgear, covered in bruises, was Cave. It had taken fifteen men to take her down after she managed to successfully take out nine, and she was only still alive after Sir Ghee himself chose not to blow her brains out whilst she was down, ordering his men to grab her and bring her upstairs so they had "something to amuse themselves with". Unfortunately for them, every attempt to drag her away from Nepgear had resulted in the man responsible being bitten, punched, kicked, or otherwise severely injured in their gentleman's wedding vegetables.
But unfortunately for Cave, her resistance had made them start being more forceful in response.
Nepgear never thought she would see a woman who was stronger than her sister. But Miss Cave had been punched, kicked, hit with guns, had her clothes slashed to reveal her underwear, slapped, strangled, had her face smacked against the table, her hair tugged and cut, her arm dislocated and popped back into place, and just beaten so mercilessly...
...and all she was responding with was a serious expression and the single phrase: "Try harder, you cowards."
Even after all that, Cave had still made it her duty to defend Nepgear. She'd pushed the Candidate behind her, and taken every swing meant for her. And right now, she was barely conscious, bleeding from a number of cuts and gashes, shivering, but still, somehow, remaining on the defensive.
So far, Sir Ghee Cashbar had offered them no real explanation about what he was even doing there, or what he wanted. He'd sat there, yelled at Mr. Loondumb down the phone a whole bunch, occasionally wandered the room so that he could abuse the hostages, and browsed the large crate of firearms that the men had brought with them. Right now, it seemed like his favourites were that abomination of a gun that had about seven scopes and six foregrips, and a pair of massive revolvers.
For such a well-dressed man, he was probably one of the most vile creatures that any Gamindustrian had ever known of.
Just as Cave shivered violently again, Sir Ghee groaned loudly, leaned back in the chair, and hung the revolver limply from his finger. Then, he leaned forward. "For fuck sake, stop chittering teeth!" he snapped in his strange accent. Nepgear noted it was quite similar to accent the man who grabbed her, and one that Mr. Glovebox had told her about...Rushing? Something like that.
Cave just shot him a dirty look, glaring right into his soul. Sir Ghee bared his teeth, wagging a finger at her as he pointed. "You...you, I do not like." Steadily, he stood up, and began to pace over to her, still twirling that huge handgun of his. "You are like Obama to my Putin. You see? Very different. Am surprised you are still alive, to be frank." Cave grit her teeth.
"The same could be said for you, scum," she snarled. Sir Ghee loomed in front of her menacingly. Then, slowly, he began to crouch to her eye level.
"What are you meaning, my little redhead?" he asked mockingly. "What, out there, in entirety of this pitiful world, could kill me, the man, myth, the legend, Sergei Kashuba?" Cave spat some blood out onto his trousers, but remarkably, the Russian held his temper.
"Well, I can think of one certain man who's on his way up here right now, and he's a better fighter than you could ever hope to be."
Kashuba immediately began laughing through his belly, throwing his head back and chortling aloud. The hostages just gave incredibly frightened looks, watching their captor break down in stitches.
Then they watched in horror as, before Cave could even react, he'd spun the revolver in his hand to grip the barrel, then swung it as hard as he could into the side of Cave's face. The woman let out a cry of pain as a glut of blood arced from her jaw, then spattering the window as she smacked face-first into the glass. Nepgear covered her mouth, recoiling in sheer terror with tears in her eyes. But she didn't dare speak, or this wretched man would strike her, too.
"DO NOT COMPARE ME TO YOUR PRECIOUS 'LONDON', CUNT!" Sergei screeched, standing up fully. He followed up by immediately reeling back and delivering a solid boot to Cave's stomach, prompting her to immediately cough up a disturbing amount of blood and wheeze loudly. She lay there in the aftermath, struggling to breathe and clutching her stomach. Kashuba didn't relent, and kicked her in the stomach again, with enough force that she was slammed back-first against the window. He then stepped forward, and continued kicking her to punctuate his sentences. "I AM FIFTY TIMES THE MAN HE CLAIMS TO BE! I AM HIGHER RANK! I AM FASTER! I AM STRONGER! SMARTER! AND THERE IS NO WAY I CAN LOSE TO THAT SHITPIPE LICKING BASTARD!"
The response from Cave with each boot was a loud grunt of pain, but she was managing to hold back any tears.
She'd become dull to the sensation of his attacks. Nothing he did was going to hurt her anymore.
Eventually, the deranged man stopped kicking her, seeing that she was no longer reacting. He bared his teeth, stood up straight, and pointed the gigantic revolver at her face as she lay down. The other hostages began screaming, but were silenced as one of Kashuba's men fired his pistol into the air. "SETTLE!" barked the helmeted man. "SETTLE, OR BE CUT DOWN!"
The cries broke down into whimpers as Kashuba levelled the handgun at Cave's head. "I have had about enough of your antics, you little bag of shit," he snarled. "You answer back, you do not respond to beating, and you do not let me fuck you like good little girly."
Kashuba grinned as he pulled the hammer back on his revolver. Cave could make out the number '500' engraved on the long barrel, glinting in the light.
Why were there so many lights?
"Hell," he chuckled. "Whether you have pulse or not does not make my dick any less hard, no?"
He shifted his shoulder and looked down the sights.
Just as he began to squeeze the trigger –
Bleeep.
"Hey, Boss," the radio standing on the table crackled. Kashuba halted, and sighed, trudging over to the radio and snatching it up. Cave weakly turned her head to look at Kashuba as Nepgear shimmied over, picking up the older woman and gently placing her head into her lap for support.
"What the fuck do you want?" he snapped. "I am in middle of obtaining fuckbuddy."
"Well, just thought I might radio in t' let ya know that we got that sunuva bitch."
Kashuba hesitated.
Cave's heart nearly stopped.
"Wait, you got him?" A sickening grin was creeping onto Kashuba's face.
"Caught London snooping around where Loaker was stationed. Loaker was dead, London was taking his shit. I kicked him out an air vent, then jumped up and kicked him towards the floor so that I could get to the other side of the gap. Rest of the guys lit him up like a Geiger counter at Chernobyl. No chance he survived. London's dead."
The spirit of every hostage in that room immediately shattered.
Cave felt herself unable to hold it back anymore: She rolled her face into Nepgear's lap, and the two women, along with some other hostages, began silently sobbing.
Kashuba's grin continued being as devilish as it was beforehand.
"Sir, you have made my cold, Russian heart very warm and fuzzy on this rather shitty evening," he chuckled. "I shall personally shake your hand!"
"No worries, Boss: Already on the way up with his gear. He had a pretty nice jacket, I gotta hand it to him!"
"You truly know how to make my day!" Kashuba laughed. "I look forward to pinning medal to chest!"
He released the button on his radio, the sickening beep cutting through the air of the room like a knife. The man stood, placed his palms against his face, and exhaled, smiling. "Well..." he beamed, turning his head to the other soldiers in the room. They all looked equally pleased. "I suppose even bigger celebration is in order for later, da?" The gathered soldiers let out a whoop, hi-fiving.
The hostages were completely speechless.
This was it.
They were going to die at the hands of these nutjobs.
Just as Cave was considering giving in to her urges to just give up and die, a hand swept down and gripped her heavily bruised arm and began dragging her across the room, causing her to yelp in pain. She looked up, wincing, to see Kashuba dragging her along. She barely had the strength to resist, and instead just moaned in pain, tears streaming down her face.
"I think I have torture you enough," he said flatly, taking her to the doorway. As Nepgear attempted to go after her, she was immediately halted by a rifle barrel being pressed into her back, then a hand grabbing her shoulder and forcing her back to the ground.
Kashuba pressed a button beside the door, prompting an electronic beep with the loud hiss of the door sliding open. Then, after kicking Cave in the back of the knees, threw her out into the corridor. "Get fuck out. You can think about your dead friend on way down. Maybe you will shoot self, no?" Kashuba's grin dropped. "Now get fuck away, bitch."
Cave couldn't even find the strength to try and go back in as she lay on the cold floor. Feebly, she extended a hand to try and get inside, just so that she could keep protecting the CPU Candidate...
...but the door slamming shut in front of her gave her the answer she didn't want.
She was alone.
Shakily, she picked herself up slightly to look at herself.
Her clothes were completely ruined; One of Kashuba's men had put a cut down the front to reveal her lacy black underwear, but then proceeded to punch her repeatedly.
One of her twintails had been cut off, leaving a stump of badly sliced hair that stuck up in tufts. The other side of her hair had been burned severely; She'd barely been able to put it out before it reached her head.
She couldn't really open her left eye anymore. Though, it might have been open. She didn't know. Maybe she was blind in that eye, now?
Her entire body was a mass of greys and reds, bruises and cuts all along her skin and staining her white outfit with her blood.
Her mouth was bleeding, just like her nose.
She was in absolute agony.
And now, not only did she have the knowledge that they were more than likely about to rape Nepgear, but they'd also killed London by kicking him downwards 100 floors.
"Oh, G-Goddesses..." she whimpered, pulling herself to her feet. It was devastatingly painful, with her only pausing to cry out in pain. "Loondumb...I'm...I'm sorry...for leaving..."
Cave took a step forward, lurching away towards the corridor she had been dragged down in the first place. Immediately upon placing weight on her left foot, her entire leg gave way, dropping her straight to the floor again. She grunted on impact with the ground.
For a few minutes, she lay there, shivering on the carpet with tears soaking into the material. The entire building was practically being shaken to pieces by the dragon outside, but she didn't care anymore.
She'd failed.
She never failed.
And the one day she does, the person she's meant to be looking after dies horribly, and Planeptune's CPU Candidate is trapped in a room full of people who she saw were all too prone to engage in horrific acts of sexual and physical assault.
She was shamed.
There was no chance she could ever go back to Leanbox.
Maybe she could just take her Cyanide pill from her tooth?
She moved her tongue to the spot where the tooth was.
Then felt her heart sink.
Of course...how could she be so forgetful?
That was one of the teeth they'd knocked out of her mouth by hitting her.
So she couldn't even kill herself.
She thought for a moment.
If she stayed where she was, the likelihood that they would shame her further with rape was increased.
Sniffing, and feebly reaching forwards, Cave began to crawl, each pull screaming at her to stop using a voice of pure agony.
"Forgive me...Nepgear..."
Meanwhile, on the ground floor...
"What the metric fuck is this?" Luke cried as the small group stepped outside. They were almost flattened a few moments before as a massive foot slammed down in front of them, practically detonating the ground nearby and forcing the three men to shove MAGES. and Falcom to the ground for their protection. A few seconds later, and they were pulling themselves to their feet. "What the fuck?!" Luke screamed again, carrying out a quick check of his gear as he pulled MAGES. Upright.
"Blast..." the magician groaned, adjusting her hat and grimacing. "It's worse than I feared would happen." Josh stepped forward, pistol and sword in his hands and glaring at the small woman.
"Listen, Mages –"
"It's pronounced MAGES.."
"Whatever. You helped invent it, right?"
"Just the anti-gravity generator, unfortunately," she replied, brushing dust from herself. "I knew it would have a wide array of uses from its conception; It was Avenir who decided to utilize it in their biomechanics experiments."
"OK, so does that thing have a weakness?"
MAGES. briefly stroked her chin. Finally, she looked up at the blonde swordsman.
"Ballistic weapons, explosives, or a considerable weight should destroy the generator in its' chest."
Josh nodded. "So just blow it to Hell?"
"Sounds like fun," Luke shrugged, racking the charging handle of his L85 and looking over to where the beast was in the process of pummelling the Planeptune tower. Glass was raining down like a storm of shards, which meant approaching from below would be completely idiotic unless you were a fan of facial scars. "It's big enough that we could rappel up it, although..."
"I dunno, Mr. Soldier Guy," Falcom interjected, scratching her head. "I've done enough monster hunting to know that an Ancient Dragon secretes a natural poison from part of its body. Touch it, and you're kinda screwed." Luke frowned, watching the creature roar and put its entire arm through the building.
"Wouldn't have said that would be the biggest problem with trying to climb a pissed-off Godzilla reject, but that just adds to the list..." he muttered. Then, he turned to James, who was lighting up a cigarette. "Mate, are you being serious?"
James nodded, the cigarette gripped between his teeth as he fished in his chest pouches for his lighter. "C'n barely focus if 've n't h'd a sm'ke," came the muffled reply, cigarette bobbing with his slight jaw movements. "L'ke t' see y' g' tw' h'rs with't a f'g."
Luke shook his head, and sighed. "Josh, what do we do, now?"
The blonde man said nothing, and watched as a rain of screaming people fell from a few floors up.
"Well, we're bloody well not going back in there, that's for sure," he said finally, turning to the group. "At this stage, the best I can suggest is that we find the CPUs."
Just then, James stopped moving, and slowly raised his hat brow, a look of sheer shock written all over his face.
"Ah, Josh?"
"What?"
"I found the CPUs."
Josh shot him an incredulous look, then everyone followed his gaze, their looks of confusion soon changing to a look of terror.
There, strapped to the Cyber-Dragon's left arm cannon, were the CPUs. They were tied to the creature with a strange magnetic field. Their bodies were limp, tied to the steel frame like decorative ragdolls, and the monster just continued to punch the building whilst keeping the cannon free.
Perhaps it didn't want them dead, for some reason.
None of them were conscious...or perhaps alive.
"Oh, shit," Josh murmured, scratching his head and stepping back. "We might be a bit fucked on this one, guys."
Luke was in the same boat. "Fuck me...what do we do about THAT?!" He snapped his glare to MAGES., who looked just as terrified as the others. "What the fuck was the point in giving it that?!"
"Don't pin the blame on me!" she snapped. "That must be one of Avenir's inventions! But how did it even get the CPUs in the first place?!"
"They probably showed up to protect the tower," James cut in, stepping forward and racking the bolt on his rifle as he scanned the weapon for weaknesses. "Josh, you're still good at catchin' people, right?"
"James, whatever you're planning, I already hate it," Josh replied, raising a finger.
James shrugged, and raised his gun. Immediately, Falcom ran forward, raising her hands. "H-Hey! Mr. James! Don't shoot the CPUs!"
"Wasn't my plan," he retorted, lifting his hand to adjust the scope dials. "Think I can see a small outlet that's sendin' out the purple stuff that's holdin' them in place."
MAGES. groaned loudly, and slapped him on the arm with her staff. The man grunted angrily. What the fuck are you doin', MAGES.?" he snapped. The woman placed a hand on her hip, and shook her head as Josh and Luke discussed potential plans.
"That outlet seems more like it would deflect your bullet," she said frustratedly. "It's where all the energy is coming from. I would assume there's some kind of internal core that produces the energy, but the armour on that thing is completely insane. Your rifle will never penetrate it."
James frowned, and lowered his AWP, looking down at the woman. "Right, then..." he sighed. "What's your plan, then?"
"If we apply enough ordnance to the arm, we might have a chance of opening a place to shoot the internal mechanisms. The energy output would have to be in a glass tube to prevent conduction, so it'd be a-"
"Big purple glowin' weakspot," the sniper grinned evilly, looking back up at the Cyber-Dragon as it continued punching the building. "My favourite."
"The issue is," Falcom said suddenly, "How do you blow off the armour without hurting the Goddesses?"
James thought for a moment, scratching his chin with a gloved hand. Finally, he looked at Josh. "Oi, prick," he called over. Josh's eyerolling was almost audible.
"What, James?"
"You've still got that hand grenade, haven't you?"
The man nodded, rustled through his bag for a moment, and then produced the small green ball.
"Nice. So we have one grenade."
Luke raised a hand.
"Actually, mate, we've got a few more toys." His hand fell slightly to gesture to the bandolier of 40mm grenades that were strapped across his chest, and then to the grenade launcher on his L85.
James' grin widened.
"Boys...I've got a plan."
MAGES. and Falcom suddenly felt very concerned as the three men huddled together and began grinning as James explained something.
Meanwhile, across the whole city...
"Um..."
Chaz had his hands on his hips as he eyed up the Challenger. It was parked over four spaces in a small impound lot in a local police station. The Officer next to him had her hands on her belt loops, and was eyeing it up, too.
"So, it's yours?" she asked, almost confused. Chaz sighed, and nodded. "Heck of a thing to privately own, let alone get impounded." She looked up and smiled at him. "You're a real silly guy, sir."
"Yeeeeah...someone borrowed it for a few days."
The Officer sucked air through her teeth. "Well, whoever it was had made a point of flattening a couple of Priuses on the way into that parking lot. Damage to property, and stuff."
Chaz refrained from saying anything about it being justified, and silently nodded.
"So, can I have it back?" he asked, looking down at the Officer.
"Sure, you can," she shrugged calmly. "It'll be back in your hands within about three days."
Chaz tensed.
"Ahhhhh...haha. Well, you see, I sort of need it," he explained, rubbing his helmet. "Like...now."
The small woman just stared blankly at his visor.
"It's really urgent," he continued.
She frowned, and folded her arms. "There's nothing you couldn't use public transport for," she said firmly. "Besides, why do you need a tank so urgently?"
Chaz's mind flashed with the memories of London being charged out of a window by the Cyber-Dragon, and the part where he bailed out of his chopper due to the excessive damage. Then, the part where he found a massive set of cracks in the road where the tank had smashed the concrete, and then the part where he had to figure out which station it had been taken to.
All in all, about half an hour's work or something.
"...shopping."
"Shopping?"
"Uh...yeah..." Chaz winced behind his visor.
Now THAT was a stupid thing to say.
"Why are you going shopping in a tank?" the Officer asked.
"Well...look at me. I do look like someone who owns a tank."
The woman raised a brow, and eyed him over. She couldn't see his face, but his body was covered in some kind of mix between a jumpsuit and space-age looking body armour. He kinda looked like one of the Eden Fall Shock Troopers from the Ring franchise from Leanbox.
"You do kinda look like a soldier..." she muttered, scratching her chin.
"Come on," Chaz pleaded. "A pretty girl like you must know when a bloke needs his tank, right?"
Caught off-guard by the 'pretty' compliment, the Officer jumped slightly, and felt her face going slightly red. "O-Oh...u-um..."
She smiled.
"...o-of course I do. Let me go get you those release papers, handsome."
She flashed him a wink, and walked out of the impound lot, considerably more posterior sway in her walk than there had been a moment before.
As the door closed behind her, Chaz was left standing awkwardly, looking at the twenty tonne armoured beast that had a tiny wheel clamp strapped to one of the treads, and wondering "How does that even stop the tank?"
Whatever.
"Well, that was a fucking stupid distraction," he quipped, glancing back at the door.
He just needed to sign those release forms, get the tank, then go save London.
But God, if that woman couldn't come back any sooner.
Meanwhile, on floor 239...
The completely non-withheld screaming that Cave's muscles were doing had only just reached that point where she could ignore the pain enough to stand up and walk...or stagger.
As she'd crawled – or, more accurately, fallen – floor after floor down the stairs, she'd contemplated a plan to get out, but it was seeming more distant and impossible every time she thought it over.
Originally, she started by thinking of just walking down the stairs.
Obviously, there was no way she could do that in her state.
Then, it went to 'slide down the windows on the side'.
It was then considered that the monster would kill her...but that might be preferable.
Last idea she'd had was just letting the soldiers kick the shit out of her.
But considering that the big man in armour just cast her a flat glare as she limped past, they probably didn't even care enough to do that.
So, instead, with no actual plan left in her already swirling mind that was quite close to just blue-screening, Cave mindlessly trudged through the building, clutching weakly at whichever wound was the worst feeling.
Her thoughts were completely spinning, and she could barely open her remaining eye that still worked.
Go down floor.
Meet Loondumb.
Loondumb is dead.
But I can go meet Loondumb and it'll all be fine.
He's dead.
But Loondumb can fix it. He always fixes things.
If there was one big thing she likes about him, it's that he can fix things. He always has a way.
He's dead.
But you can't kill Loondumb.
He's dead.
Finally, she halted in her tracks as she went down a long, empty service corridor. At the other end, there were two men, both wearing bizarre costumes.
Were they Loondumb's friends?
No, they were probably terrorists.
They turned and looked at her, one of them pulling out a metal baton.
So she was going to die here.
Cave offered the two men no true reception as they approached, grinning all the while. "Well, lookie here, Hot!" the first man laughed, dressed in some strange attire that made him look like some kind of shounen protagonist, "Got us somethin' to fuck with..." He reached forward with his baton, trying to pull down her bra, before he was swatted away by Cave.
"J-Just..." she mumbled. "Let...me go home..."
"What, and miss the chance to have a go with a body like that?" snarled the other man, who looked to be some kind of black ninja. "I'd have to pay good money or be paid good money to get a girl like you to spend the night." He stepped forward, pushing her backwards. Cave, in her weakened state, could barely offer resistance, staggering back and crashing into the concrete wall with a grunt of pain as the man pinned her arms up. "Don't you be squirming, now," he laughed, "You're just gonna make things harder."
Cave's eyes pricked with tears as the second man in the strange clothes began exploring her injured body with his hands. She didn't have the power nor the will to stop him, and instead just yelped as he groped her breast, the two leering thugs breaking out into laughter as Cave squirmed.
"What, you don't like it?" snorted the bizarrely dressed man, as his hand lazily slid over her face. "You're gonna learn to like it, you little bitch."
She barely had the energy to spit at him.
Instead, she vomited, prompting the two men to burst out in jeering laughter as she was released to drop to her hands and knees. Just as it began frothing from her mouth, a sudden force slammed into the side of her head, and she coughed violently, falling onto her side and into a puddle of her own vomit.
Cave's head was spinning.
The vomit was filled with red bubbles.
She was definitely going to die.
Just as she felt something press on top of her and begin feverishly pulling at her skirt, frisking for her underwear, there came an almighty bang, and she was pushed to the side as whoever was straddling her went flying to the side with a yell of surprise.
As her world turned to the side, she saw that one of the metal vents on the wall was gone; In its place was a man clad in black armour with night vision goggles, in a post-kick stance. Turning her head, she saw that the vent had slammed hard enough into her attempted rapist that it had shattered his entire arm, the smashed limb now flailing like a tentacle as the man screamed, scrambling away from the vent opening.
The other man, who was wearing the strange black one-piece was quick to get in the process of moving towards the vent with a confidence she hadn't seen in a while. Almost like he was prepared for any of the new attacker's moves, he raised his hands and opened with a swift right hook.
What he hadn't prepared for was the vent man to grab the incoming fist with own right hand and slam his left palm into his enemy's face, spinning him slightly. With that brief moment of momentum, the vent man twisted his attacker's arm behind his back, kicked the back of his knees to drop him down, then give a brutal tug, instantly dislocating the thug's arm with a sickening pop.
Without hesitation, Cave grabbed what little strength she had and began to crawl away. Her knees barely held her up, and she nearly fell into the steaming pile of messy vomit, but regardless of the face she'd nearly been raped and felt like she'd be better off dead, she'd be alive, internal terrorist feuds be damned.
She couldn't even see the end of the tunnel. She didn't know what was at the end of it.
Was she going the right way?
She had no idea?
Behind her, the sounds of men screaming became very apparent. The sounds of punching now seemed to be mixed with a strange metallic crack, but she didn't want to look.
Not now, not ever, never again, she'd seen too much death at the nightclub, just no more –
Cave instantly halted as she heard an absolutely gut wrenching wet crack, followed by silence.
Her limbs went weak.
Whoever had just won...
...she'd just lost.
The silence that reigned over the concrete tunnel was excruciating, especially when it was mixed with the low sounds of the monster attacking the Planeptune tower outside.
Then, finally shattering the noise, there suddenly came that horrifying clump of heavy boots beginning to approach.
Tears formed in her eyes.
So this was it.
She'd spent her last moments fleeing, crying, vomiting, and pissing herself, knowing that her brief happiness that her rapists had been stopped was instantly replaced with total fear.
The boots were getting closer.
Perhaps she had been too rude to some people. Especially Loondumb.
Goddesses, she wished she could have turned back time right then.
The boots came up beside her.
Her breathing was completely erratic.
A pair of massive hands immediately swept her up.
She didn't even have the energy to scream.
Cave looked up at the man; It was the same man who had jumped out of the vent, wearing heavy black body armour, a familiar green jacket, and a face completely obscured by some kind of mask.
This man had saved her...but he was still one of the terrorists.
After a moment of looking down both ends of the corridor, the large man saw something, and began walking towards it, cradling Cave in his arms like he was some kind of hero with his prize maiden. As he walked, he didn't even look down at her.
Was he just going to return her to Mr. Kashuba?
She shivered.
After about half a minute's walk, the man stopped, crouched, and gently sat her down next to a wall. The massive bruises on her back and lower stomach screamed in protest, but she didn't care. She didn't even have the energy to do so.
She could barely muster the strength to look at what he was doing; The mysterious man was inspecting the lock on a first aid cabinet.
Finally, he spoke.
"Damned sturdy..." he muttered. The voice came through in a strange filter; She had no idea who this man was, but he seemed to be trying to access the first aid cabinet.
After a moment's deliberation, he reached into the holster strapped to his leg, withdrew a large handgun, and pointed it at the lock. Shielding his face with a hand, he pulled the trigger, nearly deafening Cave as a loud bang ripped through the tunnel.
She winced as her ears rang, but then the sound of something metal hitting the floor rang out.
The lock was off.
For a few seconds, she shook her head.
She couldn't pass out now.
Grimacing at the thought of dying right there, she was shaken back to reality as her forehead was grabbed and her mouth opened with one large hand, followed by a liquid sloshing into her mouth.
It tasted like...
...strawberry?
A healing potion? But why?
As she had gotten used to over the years, her body was wracked briefly by agony as her wounds closed and bruises healed. She didn't feel light headed anymore, and her missing teeth had definitely grown back.
That, and her cracked ribs were better.
She was healed.
She could take this guy.
Just as she prepared to deliver the crotch-kick of the fucking century, she hesitated as he stood up, pulling his mask off. "Alright, now that that's taken care of..." he began, the lower mouthpiece sliding over his jaw.
Cave froze.
She would recognise that terrible facial hair and horrible cheek scarring anywhere.
Her eyes began filling with tears as the mask lifted over the man's face.
As the balaclava went limp and was hooked onto the man's belt, she didn't even need to hesitate.
She stood immediately, lunged forward, and wrapped her arms around the man, which was immediately reciprocated. She couldn't even hear herself crying as her face buried itself into the much larger torso she'd attached herself to.
After a moment, she pulled away, snivelling. "Y-You..."
Jack smiled down at her.
He'd been crying, too.
"Yeah," he sniffed, crouching down to her height and holding her shoulders gently. "I came back, and I've one Hell of an apology for earlier planned when we get outta this."
The two embraced again.
"I wouldn't have forgotten about you, Cave," he said quietly, stroking the back of her hair. "On the way up here, I've been shot, stabbed, slashed, and died, but there's no way in Hell I'd just leave you behind."
"I thought you were dead..." Cave whispered. "A man came on the radio and said that he'd killed you." Jack paused, and pulled out of the hug.
"Eh?"
"It went to Mr. Kashuba's radio."
Jack paused, then started laughing.
"Seems like a GCSE in actin' is all I needed!" he chortled. "That prick thinks I'm out of the picture?"
Cave finally understood.
"You...faked your death?"
"Faked harder than JFK's assassination," Jack nodded. "He thinks I'm dead? We've got the upper hand."
Jack frowned, standing up and withdrawing his shotgun from his disc. Then, he looked down at Cave.
"Listen, if what I said earlier is still stickin' with you, you're welcome to get out of here," he said finally. "Because I don't want one of the only things that matters in my life bein' killed. But if you're still up for it, and ready to forgive me for bein' a prick, then we can go finish this, together." There was a pause. "What do you say, Cave?"
She hesitated.
She'd nearly died in that tower, protecting the CPU Candidate for Planeptune.
She'd taken a lifetime of abuse in the space of a few hours.
Was she in a place to back out, at this point?
Cave sighed, and closed her eyes. "Very well, Mr. Loondumb," she said finally. "I will go with you."
Jack breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God. Let's-"
"On one condition," she interrupted. Jack froze.
"...and that is?"
"If I survive this quite frankly suicidal mission, I get to live with you in that house you wanted to buy."
Jack paused.
How did she know about that plan?
More importantly...
"Don't you have your own house?" he asked.
"I have slept in the Basilicom barracks for the past eight years," she said calmly. "Considering the magnitude of what you're asking me to participate in, I think it's only fitting that it be worth more than a simple massage."
Jack tilted his head. "Well, uh, OK, I'd be fine with that. I'd just need to pay a bit extra to get you a bed."
As the two began walking down the hallway, Cave shrugged.
"Keep saving me like this, and I'll gladly share yours."
"C-Cave?!"