Warning: Depictions of violence, nothing as bad as last time though.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chloe opened her eyes to see Aubrey hovering over her. The blond was poking her head up to look through the window of the bus and Chloe was confused about what was going on. She remembered starting to go over the bridge but after that everything was blank.
"Bree? What happened? What's going on?" She tried to sit up but a wave of nausea forced her to lay back down.
Aubrey spun around and let out a relieved breath. "Oh thank goodness you're okay. You are okay right? Does anything hurt, can you feel everything?" Aubrey was going full mother hen and it made Chloe nervous. The only other time she had seen her friend like this was when Emily had twisted her ankle during practice. And now she was acting ten times worse so Chloe figured she was royally messed up somehow.
Chloe did a quick check but nothing really seemed out of place. "Yeah Aubrey I feel fine but what happened?"
"Uh it might be easier to show you." Aubrey helped Chloe sit up and directed her gaze out the window. Chloe's jaw dropped at what she saw.
Outside the bus the hero Avalon was spinning around and avoiding attacks from a weird guy in a hoodie that had strange tentacle-like appendages coming from his hands. Chloe watched as Avalon narrowly avoided an attack that tore through a car. Avalon countered by cutting through the whip with a sword. The mystery man seemed unfazed as the whip regrew from his fingers.
"Bree what the heck is going on?" Chloe couldn't tear her eyes away from the action.
"Well apparently Beca's a superhero." Aubrey was just as entranced as Chloe was and didn't think about the consequences of her words. Chloe was immediately up and running to the doors but before she could reach them Stacie grabbed her.
"Let me go Stacie, Beca's in trouble I have to help." Chloe tried to wiggle free but Stacie's grip only tightened.
"Oh no you don't Red. Just look outside. Do you really think that there is anything you can do?" Chloe looked back through the windows and watched as Avalon leapt over the villain and brought her sword down on his back. He didn't seem all that affected by it since he just turned and sent the hero flying with one of his whips.
Chloe tried to make a break for it again but now Lilly was standing in front of the doors and Stacie still had an iron grip around Chloe's waist. "I know you want to help but we've got to let Beca handle this," Stacie said. She waited until Chloe nodded to slowly release the redhead. "Besides, Beca knows how to handle herself."
The longer this fight went on the more frustrated Beca became. She was managing to do a pretty decent job at avoiding Maelstrom's attacks but every time Beca managed to land a hit he just seemed to shrug it off. Meanwhile every time she got hit by one of his tentacle whip thingies it felt like getting hit by a truck. Something that Beca knew from experience was not fun. She really needed to finish this since the longer the fight meant more damage was being done to the bridge. There were already deep gouges in the asphalt and a couple of the suspension wires had been cut clean through. Beca was by no means an architect but even she knew that a suspension bridge needed those cables to be intact.
Beca ducked under another attack and then rolled behind a car hoping to get a second to think. But of course she wouldn't get that lucky since the car was picked up and then thrown at her. Beca rolled forward, just barely missing the car, and cut threw another whip. If Maelstrom's nanites worked the same as her's then theoretically if she kept separating the nanites from the host then eventually there would be none left for him to use. Only if Maelstrom was who she thought he was then he had about a decade's worth of time to build up a lot of nanites.
Beca rolled to the side and then immediately jumped into the air as a flurry of attacks fell on where she had been moments earlier. Beca ducked behind another car, she grabbed the bumper and heaved with everything she had. Even Beca was a little surprised when the car lifted rather easily. She lifted the car above her head and then launched it at Maelstrom. He tries to cut through the car but there's still enough left to knock him back several yards. Beca presses her attack and manages to land several blows to his body. On the last strike she actually manages to cut through his armor but what she sees is rather disturbing.
Beneath the armor the skin is pale, borderline grey, and once she cuts through a hideous odder escapes from the wound. Beca falls back as the tentacles lash out at her. "What the hell are you?" She screams once she reaches a safe distance.
He responds in that same raspy voice. "You still don't know? How feeble is your mind to not ask our creator about her atrocities."
"I did. She told me about Operation Maelstrom, about the kid her husband tried to save. What I want to know is how you're still alive Mikey?" Beca dodges another attack and then rolls behind a semi truck. She stops when she hears a sinister laughter.
"Leave it to that hag to not give all the details." Maelstrom said as he began tearing the semi apart. "She may have told you a bit of the story but not the ending," He finally made it through the truck but Beca just leapt to the next car. She picked it up and sent it hurtling towards its target only to be sliced cleanly in half. "That child is dead, she killed him with her faulty programming."
"NO! She tried to save him." Beca charged out from hiding and sliced through several more whips before she took another hit that sliced through her armor. She ducked back under cover and waited for the wound to heal.
"It was still her fault and it was her that gave birth to me. She only told you about one failure. For how could she tell you, her greatest creation, about her greatest failure." Maelstrom turned to the bus that was still sitting near the edge of the bridge. He tried to attack it but Beca came flying out of nowhere and sliced down at the thing's head. He managed to dodge most of the attack but the blade cut through the nanites covering his face. Beca stumbled back, she had seen that face before, it was all over the home she had been graciously offered when she had lost her's.
"Daddy?" Beca turned to see Stacie with one foot out of the bus and a look of confusion mixed with horror spreading across her face.
"Aw the spawn of this host. It appears your mother never did tell you what happened to your dear old dad." John lashed out with his whips to attack Stacie but Beca stepped in between them. She changed her sword to a spear and cut through the attack but that was the least of her problems. Stacie wasn't moving and was in a very clear state of shock, Beca needed to get her out of there but she couldn't move without risking another attack from Maelstrom.
"Daddy what's going on?" Stacie took a full step out of the bus and Beca moved to push her back.
"Stacie, get back inside the bus. I don't know what's going on but that is not your father." Beca saw a flash of red and yellow behind her tall friend and her heart nearly jumped for joy. Chloe and Aubrey moved to grab Stacie but she pulled away, moving closer to the abomination posing as her father.
Maelstrom cackled, reveling at the scene in front of him. "What a twisted web that woman has weaved." Beca realized that his mouth wasn't actually moving so the thing in front of her was really just a hollow shell for the nanites. "Of course she wouldn't have told you about her crimes against nature. About how the death of her husband drove her mad. Mad enough to give rise to a real Frankenstein's Monster."
"All true. So why don't leave the kids alone and face the person who you really want to kill." Dr. Conrad appeared from behind an overturned car and took a step towards Maelstrom. Beca used the distraction to push Stacie back towards the bus where Chloe and Aubrey managed to drag her the rest of the way. She put up a bit of a fight but Lilly appeared and tapped Stacie on the neck causing the tall girl to collapse.
Now that that problem was solved Beca turned back to the scene playing out in front of her. "Mother. So you've decided to show yourself after all these years." Maelstrom hissed. Beca took the opportunity to place herself between the doctor and the enemy.
"Yes I have, it's about time someone finally put you down." Dr. Conrad took another step forward but Beca held up a hand to keep her where she was. "What I want to know though is why are you targeting Beca?"
Maelstrom laughed, "Isn't it obvious? I would think that the brilliant Dr. Conrad would have figured it out by now."
Dr. Conrad's face scrunched up in concentration before clearing. "You want her body."
"Got it in one." He lifted a finger just to mock the scientist.
"Uh ya no I don't think so. I'm kind of using my body at the moment." Beca said. She wasn't exactly sure what was going on but there was no way in hell she was going to let this thing do what it wanted.
"Your consent is irrelevant. You'll be dead once I am in control." Maelstrom took a step forward and Beca brandished her spear.
"Doc what's going on?"
"The body it's using has decayed to a point that the nanites can no longer keep it together," The doctor explained. "Now it needs a living host or it will cease to exist."
"Okay and what exactly is 'It'?"
"The control chip in that body has an artificial intelligence in it that turned malicious when it was activated," Beca could hear the doc struggling to explain and knew that she needed to get her out of there.
"Doc, I need you to go to the bus and get the girls out of here." Beca dodged another attack and cut through the nanites.
"Right but before I go here," Abigail tossed Beca a small syringe.
"What's this?" Beca looked at the vial, it was slightly green in color but other than that it didn't look all that special.
"It's a virus designed to destroy the nanites," The doctor moved towards the bus. "I started working on it after he first attacked you. Make sure you stick it straight in the back of his neck where the control chip is." Abigail made the rest of the way to the bus and Beca turned back to her enemy.
Maelstroms face showed a bit of concern at the appearance of the virus but he quickly schooled his features and the nanites covered his face again. Beca tucked the syringe into her armor, using the nanites she could push the vial around to as far as the nanites could extend. There was a brief lull as the two studied each other.
"If you really think that virus gives you a chance at victory then you're as conceited as that hag."
"You know for an artificial intelligence you've got quite a mouth on you." Beca leveled her spear at her enemy.
"When you've been manipulated and betrayed we'll see how jaded you become." He hissed.
Beca scoffed. "You can keep all that 'Woe is me' crap to yourself. I know Dr. Conrad, she saved my life. I'm sure whatever she did she had a reason."
"Such naivete. Putting blind faith in someone will only lead to your downfall." Maelstrom sneered at her. "The strong devour the weak, that's how this world works isn't it?"
"If that's all you've learned about nature then you might need to take the intelligence away from the artificial." Beca charged at her enemy.
She shifted her spear to the combat whips that Lilly taught her to use. While Maelstrom's attacks were wild and chaotic Beca's were calculated and had a sense of grace. She danced amongst his attacks and cut through his defenses. Beca managed to get in close and landed a series of attacks. She forced him to the edge of the bridge but that's where her progress ended.
Maelstrom dug in by extending two nanite arms and rooting them into the bridge to keep himself from being pushed farther back. Beca kept up the attacks but she couldn't push anymore. So she retreated a few paces trying to clear her head. She couldn't just keep attacking and expect to get anywhere she needed to figure out how to get to its neck. Out of the corner of her eye she saw some of the Bellas just standing outside the bus.
'Why are they just standing around? They need to get out of here.' In the heat of the moment Beca forgot about the fact that there were at least four Bellas still unconscious in the bus.
She turned her focus back on the matter at hand. Maelstrom had adopted a thick collar of nanites, presumably to keep Beca from injecting him with the virus. While she was distracted Maelstrom had managed to spread tiny threads of nanites across the bridge. Once they had spread far enough he commanded them to attack Beca. Beca was completely blindsided by the ambush attack and the cords wrapped around her and pinned her to the floor. She struggled against the bindings but the more she fought the tighter the restraints grew.
Maelstrom lifted her in the air and started pulling her towards him, his arms outstretched to grab her throat. "Finally I will have a new host body."
*THUNK*
"Let her go!" Chloe stood there holding what looked like part of an axle from a car. Beca couldn't comprehend what was happening, why was Chloe attacking this thing when she should be back at the bus.
"Pathetic human, do not interfere." Maelstrom grabbed Chloe by her arm and threw her over the edge of the bridge.
"Chloe!" Beca's scream tore from her throat. Time seemed to slow down as she watched Chloe disappear over the edge. Beca's body lashed out and a small swarm surrounded her, cutting through her restraints. Once she was free Beca sprinted towards the railing and leapt after Chloe.
The world spun around her, Chloe couldn't make heads or tails of it. The sky and sea kept switching places and the sea was getting way too close for comfort and she closed her eyes waiting for the impact. Then suddenly the world stopped spinning as something slammed into her. She felt her descent slow and then stop altogether. Then very slowly she began to rise back towards the bridge.
"What is it with you and falling off bridges?" The voice was familiar and when she opened her eyes she saw the purple armor and the smirking face that she loved so much.
"Beca what's going on, how...how are you flying?" Chloe looked behind Beca and noticed the four massive wings beating the air at alternating paces.
"Wasn't really sure I could do it. When I tried it in practice I didn't have enough nanites to form large enough wings. But thanks to Fat Amy I've got nanites to spare now."
"Nanites? Beca what the hell is going on? Are you a superhero?" Beca just chuckled.
"I think the better question is what the hell were you thinking attacking a crazy supervillian with a piece of wreckage?"
"He was hurting you, I couldn't just stand by and watch," Chloe said softly and Beca halted her flight in order to hear.
"That's besides the point Beale. You could have been hurt, case and point you got thrown off a bridge." Beca didn't really mean to sound like a scolding parent but her concern for Chloe was overriding coherent thought.
"I don't care. I'm in love with you dumbass. That means I will do everything I can to make sure you come back to me." Chloe said it with such conviction that any protest died on Beca's tongue.
"You love me?"
"Of course I do, dummy."
"I love you too." Chloe pulled Beca in for a deep kiss. The two hovered there over the bay, at any other time Beca would consider it romantic. Only there was a crazy A.I. above them wreaking havoc. Beca pulled away from the kiss and continued their accent. The scene that greeted them when they rose above the bridge was...interesting.
In Beca's absence Lilly had taken up the defense, only Beca was pretty sure that Lilly hadn't been wearing a karate gi when they went over the edge. Or wielding a katana.
Chloe just stared. "When did she?"
"It's better to not think too hard about what Lilly can do," Beca said. Lilly was doing an admiral job at fending off Maelstrom's attacks but Beca could tell that she was waning. Beca placed Chloe back on the ground and after making sure that Chloe wouldn't interfere again Beca charged to rescue the rest of the Bellas.
She landed on Maelstrom's back with enough force to send him flying. Beca withdrew her wings and formed a sword in her left hand. She pressed her advantage and sliced through the snaking arms surrounding her enemies. Learning her lesson from last time she made sure there were no hidden threads waiting to capture her.
"Why won't you just fall!" He roared. "You are weak, you only exist to be crushed beneath my heel!"
Beca scoffed, she had just about enough of this pompous asshole. "Dude I don't know where you got your superiority complex but you've got to get over yourself." Beca dodged under another attack and pivoted, bringing her sword down on Maelstrom's neck slicing through the nanites surrounding his neck. Beca reached out and grabbed him by the back of his neck and forced him to the ground in a pin that Lilly had taught her. He tried to push her off with his nanites but Lilly appeared behind her and cut through the attack. Beca pulled the syringe from her armor and jammed it into the monster's neck.
"NO!" Maelstrom cried out but it was too late. Beca jumped away, pulling Lilly with her, as Maelstrom began to convulse. His body sputtered around like a fish out of water and his nanites were lashing out and cutting anything within a twenty foot radius. Eventually he stopped moving altogether and the nanites became nothing more than grains of sand.
Beca, Chloe and Lilly made their way back over to the bus where everyone was waiting for them. Stacie was just coming around when they made it back. The bridge was in such a state that emergency crews were having trouble reaching their position. Abigail was kneeling next to her daughter and the two were having a hushed conversation.
Beca put her hands on her hips and approached the doctor. "Okay Doc I think I deserve some sort of explanation."
Dr. Conrad sighed and looked up from her daughter. "I was just about to tell Stacie. When John died in a car wreck eight years ago I lost it. I was so distraught from grief that I thought I could play god," She wiped a tear from her cheek.
"I revived Operation Maelstrom with a small change. I implanted an artificial intelligence into the body of my husband in the hopes of being able to restore his personality but once the program took hold everything went horribly wrong. Maelstrom declared itself the next stage in human evolution and deemed humans as pathetic and useless creatures. When I saw what it had become I tried to destroy it but before I could he managed to escape."
"Mom, why didn't you tell me?" Stacie sat up with some help from Aubrey.
"I was ashamed, you were taking his death just as hard as I was but instead of being there for you I turned into a mad scientist. And when the project failed there wasn't really anything to talk about." Stacie reached up and pulled her mother in for a hug.
"You still should have told me mom."
"I know, I'm...I'm so sorry." Abigail let out a sob and Stacie tightened the hug. Beca grabbed Chloe's hand and Chloe gave Beca's hand a comforting squeeze.
Chloe leaned in to whisper in Beca's ear. "So how did you wind up with all these cool powers?" Beca explained in full what had happened to her parents and how she ended up paralyzed. As she explained Chloe's face shifted through a dozen different emotions ranging from sympathy, anger and pride. When Beca was done Chloe pulled her in for a deep kiss.
"What was that for?" Beca asked.
Chloe just smirked. "Just letting you know that you're my hero."
Beca smiled and pulled Chloe in for another kiss.
"Uh guys. What the hell happened to my sexy self!?" A petite blonde stepped out from the bus trying to hold her baggy clothes to her slim frame. Everyone stared at the girl until it finally clicked for Beca.
"Amy, is that you?"
"Of course it's me Shawshank! Just not all of me. What happened to my sexy fat ass!?" Amy demanded. Beca couldn't help the laugh that escaped her, out of all the craziness that had just happened the sight of a skinny Amy was too much. It didn't help that Chloe started laughing with her. "This isn't funny guys, what happened to me?!"
Beca walked over to her friend and laid a hand on Amy's shoulder. "Amy I'll explain everything but the Bellas kind of owe you their lives." Amy's face went slack with surprise and Beca launched into an explanation about what had happened.
"Well I guess that's an acceptable excuse. But you owe me about a million happy meals shortstack." Amy said once Beca was done.
"Sure Amy whatever you want."
Graduation had been a bitter sweet affair. While Beca was happy to finally be graduating high school she wished that her parents could have been there to see her. On the bright side Chloe had been next to her for practically the entire event. The couple were set to attend Barden University next fall. Originally Beca had not wanted to go to college but she knew that her father would have loved to attend his alma mater, it also didn't hurt that she and Chloe had been assigned to the same freshman dorm. In fact most of her new friends would be going to Barden once school started up again, Emily being the only one left behind to take over as captain of the schools now champion a cappella team.
Beca had continued to act as the city's guardian although nothing had compared to the fight on the bridge. Chloe became Beca's own personal cheerleader and grounding point for whenever she started to fly off the rails. The two had grown inseparable over their months of dating and Beca could not be happier. Well that's not true, depending on how this night went her happiness would either grow exponentially or fall flat on its face.
She knew what she was about to do was a little crazy since they had only been dating for about six months. But while going through some of her mothers things Beca had stumbled upon a ring with a note attached.
"Dear Beca, I don't know when your mother will give this to you but knowing her it will be at the very last minute. This ring is for you, it has been passed down through our family for generations and I know that you will find someone worthy of wearing it. Just make sure not to lose it before that happens. Find a girl that challenges you and keeps you in line because we all know you're going to need it. I know you'll do great things and your going to need someone just as great to stand by your side. Love Grandma."
Beca couldn't help tearing up when she read the note. Her grandma had been one of the most important people in her life. She had been the first person Beca came out to and had told her it was about time. If Beca had ever wanted approval from anyone it had been her grandmother and she knew her grandma would have adored Chloe. So Beca took finding the ring as a sign and was now fiddling with the box as she and Chloe made their way through the joint graduation party being held in the Conrad and Beale households.
Beca looked around at all her friends. Amy, who had regained some but not all of her former glory, was dancing atop one of the tables with Flo and Emily. CR and Denise were slow dancing together on the makeshift dance floor while Lilly was busy rigging up a disco ball on the ceiling. Jessica, Ashley were in the kitchen helping Mrs. Beale with the food. Beca was pretty sure she caught Aubrey and Stacie making out in a corner while Dr. Conrad and Dr. Tennant chatted with Mr. Beale. Beca figured now would be a good time to escape and she pulled Chloe with her to the backyard. Once they were underneath the tree that joined their yards Beca pulled Chloe into a deep and passionate kiss.
Chloe hummed as they separated. "Not that I'm complaining but what was that for?"
"Just wanted to show you how much I loved you," Beca said with a goofy grin.
"Oh well in that case," Chloe pulled Beca back in and they stood there kissing for several minutes before Beca pulled back. Beca figured it was now or never so she got down on one knee and pulled out the box. Chloe gasped when she saw what Beca was holding and lifted a hand to cover her mouth.
"Chloe Beale I never expected to meet someone like you. Someone who is so kind and caring, someone who is willing to put up with all the craziness that is my life. You are everything that I never knew I wanted. I know we're young and haven't dated all that long but this past year has taught me that life is too short. So I was wondering if you would take a crazy leap of faith and marry me?" Beca held up the ring and watched as tears streamed down Chloe's face as she nodded. Beca let out a relieved breath and slipped the ring over Chloe's finger. Chloe pulled Beca into a searing kiss that she never wanted to end. Eventually they had to pull back and Beca let out a nervous chuckle. "I was almost positive you were going to say no."
"I would never have said no." Chloe said as she brushed a stray hair behind Beca's ear.
"Really?" Beca could hardly believe she had found such an amazing woman.
"Of course I wouldn't have and you want to know why?" Chloe leaned in as Beca nodded. "Cause I'm in love with you, dumbass."
AHH finally done. Sorry it's late but i have a good excuse, had a minor medical emergency (I'm fine) and when I got home late on Sunday I kind of slept for a full twenty four hours. On the bright side it was the best sleep I've gotten in years.
Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing. The ending was a bit cheesier than originally planned but it just kind of popped into my head.
Catch you later!
