The Lighthouse shook from explosives fired haphazardly up the stairs, destroying chunks of steps and hurling mutated crab-things asunder. Were it not for the Vox Beasts' rocketry and a summoned Patriot's Crank Gun, everyone would have probably already been eaten. Even when the monsters came up-close, the Beasts and Motorized Patriot beat them down, sometimes with an arm or claw or two clasped on them.
"The abominations, endless! But I am just as relentless!" the Patriot stated as he charged into a cluster of crab-mutants. He rammed his gun into their faces and shot their heads off, their chunks fluttering around.
"Zachary! Catch!" Pinkerton Elizabeth threw her friend a bottle of drinkable EVE.
One of the crab-like monsters became icebound. Left hand still fuming with dry ice, Zachary reloaded his revolver and fired once at the icy statue. It shattered into many parts. He looked around, and saw more and more of the mutated monsters scuttle down the walls and stairs. They hissed with frothy bubbles leaking out their mouths.
Sofia kept her hands over her ears, keeping her back to Zachary's as often as she could for him to protect her.
"You alright?" Zachary yelled as he finished off a mutant, Sofia nodding. She noticed the bloodied radio (the same one left behind for Eleanor) among dead mutants, and managed to get it while Zachary fended off the monsters.
Cindy screamed as she ran across the scene, the child nearly being shot several times, pincers snapping at her head, but the little thing avoided harm.
"Why isn't Daddy here now!?" the former Little Sister cried angrily.
Old Elizabeth caught the girl and pulled her up, firing her Broadsider at the swarm of foes. Cindy clutched her doll and the old gal, and saw several of the monsters crawl along the wall, whilst those on the floor occasionally leapt over one another, many shot dead mid-air before reaching their target.
"Behind you!" Cindy warned. Old Elizabeth felt a monster snap at her legs.
"Ow!" The old lady returned several rounds before able to free herself, blood leaking out her legs. Zachary cast Electrobolt, several monsters near old Elizabeth shaking, eyes targets for gunfire.
Devil's Kiss and Murderous Crows flew about wildly. The Fireman's iron-bound fists thudded against mutated flesh, and the Zealot's blade hacked others apart. His use of teleportation allowed him to avoid trouble. Whenever a crab mutant leapt upon the Fireman's back, the extreme heat forced it to get off, followed by a boot or gauntlet.
"Some ah'da ugliest sons a bitches I've seen!" one of the Beasts remarked as he pummeled a monster's face, busting it open and feeling its pincers tick and scrape against his helm.
"Dey kinda remoind me o' Daisy's face!" another said, knocking a crab back then launching a rocket at point blank, hurling several monsters back.
"That's really cute, Oisin!" Daisy yelled as Zachary's sniper rifle shot a monster dead mid-air just as it jumped. She turned her head in time to this dead thing flop at her.
Zachary, the Elizabeths, the Beasts, and Daisy fired their weapons as fast as they could, but soon ran out of ammo. The Beasts dropped their rocket-launching weapons and withdrew shotguns, whilst Zachary threw his empty rifle at the mutants then fired his revolver.
The Fireman, not needing any weapon, charged partly up the stairs to become the centre of attention, buying the others a little more time.
The Patriot was overwhelmed by numerous mutants, and they began to pick him apart. They were unable to do serious damage, but he soon phased out of reality prematurely mid-fight.
"Now!" Zachary yelled.
"There!" Pinkerton Elizabeth summoned supplies to phase in, whilst old Elizabeth summoned a Gun Automaton.
"Hoo! I'm getting it back!" old Elizabeth stated, Cindy cheering, but their joy was drowned out by violence.
"Zachary, here!" Pinkerton Elizabeth threw Zachary a bottle of drinkable EVE.
"Much obliged!" He guzzled down and threw a few Old Man Winters.
Instead of reloading their shotguns, the Beasts just grabbed new ones, double-barrelled, the others reloading their guns. Even Sofia got a double-action revolver to do her part in the fight, as ineffective as she was. Zachary noticed a few Crank Guns, the Vox Beasts slinging their shotguns over their shoulders and grabbing the Crank Guns. Zachary took the last one, and the four unleashed a mighty stream of bullets, mowing down dozens of monsters within seconds. The echoes were deafening.
Whilst the triggerhappy Zachary and Beasts bought everyone else some time, there was barely enough time for them to reload. It was not long until the Beasts and Zachary had to club, punch and kick into the wall of disfigured, crab-mutants, Zachary's use of Old Man Winter used to great effect. It was not long until the floor became littered with so much corpses and body parts, everyone nearly waded in them.
The Zealot unleashed a flock of Murderous Crows which promptly ate many mutants' eyes, much to their distress, leaving them as easy targets. The Zealot teleported outside the Lighthouse, atop the railings. He saw many crab mutants rising out the waters and scuttle into the Lighthouse like ants. Many more floated along the waves, but when the Zealot looked up, he sighed.
"The machines near..." The skyborne machinery had lowered drastically, many swayed or curled to and fro. A dozen or so slowly spiralled down the Rapture Lighthouse, and the machinery's screeching and creaking echoed. A few of the longest lengths dipped into the ocean.
Teleporting back inside, the Zealot landed atop a monster while driving his sword down its skull. He summoned a flock of Murderous Crows and began cutting up the mutants. Zachary and the Vox Beasts ran out of ammo for their Crank Guns, using them as clubs to create distance and then throwing them at the monsters. The Beasts withdrew their shotguns, whilst Zachary got his revolver.
Despite the mass slaughter, the mutants become so numerous and dense, everyone was practically face-to-face with them, clubbing with their guns while shooting point-blank. Old Elizabeth and Sofia, being the weakest combatants, received extra care from Zachary, who did everything to protect them with Plasmids and bullets.
After shooting down a few mutants, Daisy realized she was being swarmed. She shot through a few and jumped over another, and rejoined with the Beasts, Fireman, Zachary and the Zealot, where she stuck her carbine into the mutants' mouths and fired. Zachary's rifle got caught in the pincers and hands of a mutant, so he threw a Possession at it and took his gun back while the Possessed mutant turned and attacked its own kin, though it would not last long.
One of the crab-things leapt from the wall and landed on her back. The little black woman could not hold the weight and fell, feeling the monster's hands grip her neck, and pincers claw into her sides.
"Ahh! Shit!" Daisy kicked at the monster, but was too small to overpower it.
Pinkerton Elizabeth noticed Ms. Fitzgerald's trouble. The blue-eyed brunette aimed The Ambassador and fired just once, the shot hitting the crab mutant square in the head. It flopped over. Daisy crawled backwards as several more snapped and clawed at her. Zachary grabbed her arm and pulled her back, throwing Old Man Winter and freezing several monsters. The Fireman ran by, drop kicking through an icebound mutant and breaking it apart.
"Keep on coming! I'm still dying to burn you all!" The Fireman leapt into the horde of crabs and threw fireballs downwards, burning many monsters around him and keeping them busy.
"Do they just keep coming!?" Zachary, having ran out of ammo, used his rifle as a club in one hand, and a revolver in the other. The monsters attacked him, but his shields held up for now.
A monster jumped, extending its pincers and clawed hands. Zachary dropped his rifle, caught the monster mid-air, and body slammed the motherfucker into the floor, ramming his revolver down its throat and shooting. When he got up, he was surrounded by the crabs, with many more jumping over each other.
"Oh, shit!" He threw Devil's Kiss and fired all the chambers of his revolver, then felt the critters clawing him.
Most of the crabs lifted up, levitating from telekinesis, revealing that the Vox Beasts, the Fireman, Sofia, and Pinkerton Elizabeth lied on the floor. The levitated monsters writhed and snapped at the air, the Gun Automaton shooting at them.
Pinkerton Elizabeth and Sofia were quite cut up here and there. Grimacing hard, Elizabeth got up, noticing Eleanor now standing at the water's edge next to old Elizabeth, Cindy still in her arms.
"Eleanor! You came back!" Cindy squeaked. Eleanor's visor turned green.
"Of course, that's what Big Sisters are for!" Eleanor noticed Mother, all cut up and bleeding. Visor now red, Eleanor began throwing fireballs at the crabs, and used her psychokinesis to smash them together, creating much havoc. Once everyone else regained their senses, they opened fire again, the Fireman and Zealot using Vigors.
Sofia sat up with a groan, and spat out a mouthful of blood. Zachary ran to her, holding her by the shoulders and asking how she was, but Sofia raised a hand and picked herself up.
"I'm...alright, Zachary. I can exceed myself," she assured.
Eleanor felt guilty for feeling good to see Mother like that. About damn time you got some scrapes and bruises...
Bubbles appeared, and a bathysphere arose, splashing water. It's door opened, blue Elizabeth popping her head out.
"Come in, quick!" She beckoned.
"I'll hold them off, then swim after the bathysphere!" Eleanor yelled, keeping most of the crabs busy with her Plasmids.
One by one, everyone else entered the bathysphere while firing at the monsters, the Zealot teleporting in, and the Fireman entering last. The Fireman kept hurling Devil's Kiss out the bathysphere, helping Eleanor fry the mutants, but they just kept coming.
"Go! I'll follow in the water!"
"Eleanor!" Cindy cried.
The Fireman nodded, and closed the door, leaving Eleanor behind. The bathysphere descended.
Eleanor kept blasting fiery and telekinetic Plasmids at her enemies, but no matter how much she tried, they just kept coming. The entire room was filled with mutants, crawling over their fallen.
"Huh…fine. Your way you'll have…" Eleanor dove into the water, swimming after the bathysphere. That black winged monster better not return…
Down below, Rapture echoed with gunfire and screaming. Once it ended, Booker stepped around a corner, both hand cannons smoking, shields regenerating, Elizabeth's Broadsider holstered.
"A city underwater covered with growing meat is ridiculous enough, but the uglies who live down here...bigger lunatics than Comstock's followers. Elizabeth! You anywhere?" His heart dropped.
Booker's search led him to a pub of sorts. He saw a Splicer man and woman dancing casually, and left them alone. At least the counter had booze, so Booker snatched a bottle of whiskey and helped himself. He then noticed a blue bottle and took it.
"Drinkable EVE? It kind've looks like Salts... Well, bottom's up…" After that, Booker left the pub.
"Remember when we danced at Cohen's show?" the female Splicer dancer asked.
"Yeah, good times, wasn't it? Seeing Elizabeth and Booker get electrocuted was priceless. Hah hah! I wonder what happened to Cohen's painting, though..."
Sometime later, Booker headed down a hallway. After going around a corner, he saw something odd. There was a skinless man stuck on the wall, missing all his limbs, his belly bulbous and massive. His belly moved around, similarly to the polyp of the ADAM-infused plants earlier. The man's groin had a cavity, all his guts hanging out and writhing on their own. To make things odder, an ADAM-infused plant, apparently, had grown out his mouth.
"What...the hell?" Booker approached the grotesque figure. The ADAM-infused growing out body's mouth lifted, the polyp turning out to be a large eyeball staring back at Booker. "Uh...hi?" Where the man's limbs used to be, instead were fleshy masses that grew into the flesh-covered wall.
The plant blinked, then retracted down the body's throat. The man wheezed and began thrashing his head side to side wildly, his jaw bone and neck bones making cracking and popping sounds.
Booker had never heard screaming like this. It was as if several teenaged boys screamed at the same time with a vibrating effect that merged their voices. Whenever he finished a scream, the man would wheeze, sharply inhale, or wiggle, as if trying to rip himself out the wall while in agony.
The man's polyp-belly churned, and he screamed with greater pain. Blood leaked out his mouth, and he began smashing the back of his head into the wall, and his hanging intestines flicked about wildly. The polyp blasted out, a bellyful of blood gushing out behind it and hurling the rest of the man's innards onto the floor.
Booker stepped back to avoid getting blood on him. The wall-man's screaming did not stop, but now, every breath he took was just to scream more. The roots of the ADAM-infused plant slithered out, apparently having conjoined with veins and tendons. The roots wriggled, wrapping around the organs and pulling them back inside the host.
Booker raised an eyebrow at all that.
"I don't think even Elizabeth would find this interesting… Well, time to put you out of your misery." He fired into the wall-man's head. Although the screaming stopped, the intestines continued moving. The ADAM-infused plant emerged from the man's mouth, the eyeball staring. Booker shot it, too, and took his leave.
The belly-polyp on the floor rolled along on its own. Booker heard it and turned as he walked, unsure if he should shoot it, hearing something churning inside. The belly-polyp continued rolling. He gave the damn thing a good kick, watching it bounce off the wall and roll down the hallway. Once it stopped rolling, it regained itself and rolled after Booker again. So he shot it. It popped.
Erupting from within was something between a human fetus and a Sea Slug. It crawled rather quickly, umbilical cord wiggling along, head up and gnarly face breathing rapidly.
Booker just scratched his head.
"Hunh… Further proof of a godless universe." Once close enough, he stomped the creepy thing in the head, shoe splatting skull. Green goo gushed out. He heard some talking, so turned his head.
"Is that...ADAM? ADAM! Ahhh hah hah hah! I can't believe it! ADAM's here!" someone exclaimed, and sure enough, several Splicers soon appeared.
"I'M FIRST! OUTTA MY WAY!" A Brute Splicer shoved the others.
"He ain't takin' any of my ADAM! Hey! Get off me, ya dumb bitch" a Splicer yelled, aiming his machine gun and opening fire, the others shooting their pistols, and the Brute throwing an Enaedonai-covered crate at Booker, who jumped out of the way.
His shields lit up. Booker cast Murderous Crows, who ripped chunks of deformed flesh off disgusting faces. The Brute was untroubled, lumbering like an ape to Booker, so he threw a handful of Devil's Kiss at the big fellow. More screaming and bellowing.
Withdrawing both Hand Cannons, Booker fired them back at his attackers each time he took a step forwards, shields absorbing more returning fire. A Splicer's head exploded as if a rotten pumpkin, a few others shot dead through the heart, one receiving a bullet through the shin which blew it off.
"YOU OWE ME SOME SKIN, YOU SON OF A BITCH! THEN THEY'LL WATCH ME RIP YOUR ASS APART AND I'LL FUCK ALL THE WAY INTO YER STOMACH!"
The Brute threw a mighty punch, but Booker shot a few fingers off and slipped under the incoming arm. He rammed one Hand Cannon into the Brute's knee and fired, blasting the kneecap asunder. The Brute screamed as he fell to one knee, throwing a punch that shattered Booker's shields and hurt him. Booker pistol whipped him in the balls, stunning the bellowing bull.
Booker quickly wrapped his arms around the Brute's legs while driving his shoulder into the Brute's midsection. The big boy fell onto his back, Booker ending up atop him. Just as the Brute raised his arms, Booker discharged the last chambers of his Hand Cannons into the Brute's face. The head erupted, bursting blood and brains everywhere. Booker got up while holstering his Hand Cannons, blood leaking down his front.
"You enjoy that?" Booker asked casually as he stepped over the Brute, shields recharging. His search continued.
A while later, he heard mechanical noises. He saw a few flesh-covered Security Cameras here and there, but the lenses were so overgrown, they could not detect anything. Even the occasional Turret was so overgrown with Enaedonai, that the engines were clogged. The fleshy growth gradually became thicker, and he could clearly see thicker veins, beating hearts, pumping lungs, and various internal organs growing out the fleshy walls.
A big fleshy arm burst out the wall, Booker gasping. The fleshy appendage clawed at Booker, blows eating away his shields, so he put his Sky-Hook on and clubbed the arm aside. The arm shook, then the palm split open, an eyeball with a faint yellow aura appearing, making tuning and static sounds.
"Fnnh!" Booker clutched his head, a nosebleed on its way.
Leaning backwards to avoid the arm's swipe, Booker rammed his Sky-Hooker into the arm's eyeball, the machine wheezing as the rotary ripped the palm apart. The arm tried to escape, but Booker grabbed it with his free hand, Sky-Hook ripping the hand apart. The rotaries chewed away down the wrist, and to Booker's surprise, he saw a brain and heart. At that, the arm became limp. Booker threw it down.
"Teach you to mess with me…" He felt the floor vibrating, and then several more fleshy arms burst out the walls and ceiling, varying in size and length. "Ugh...I ain't got time for this!" More and more arms emerged from the walls, floor, and ceiling. Booker cast Murderous Crows to devour the arms and keep them busy while he ran through the forest of skinless limbs, knocking them aside with his Sky-Hook.
Bursting out the floor was a skinless, twisted face on the end of a seven-foot neck. The face shot at Booker, jagged teeth extending, so he swung his Sky-Hook across its chin and cracked its jaw, some teeth flying out, too. The head twitched but lunged after Booker as he ran past it, but could not bite him with a broken mouth.
As the Murderous Crows feasted, Booker saw lights and heard whirring down the hallway.
"That an elevator? Hmm...since the lower floors are flooded, Elizabeth might of went up." Reaching the elevator, Booker figured out how to work the lift. He looked back, seeing some arms squirming out the walls then writhing across the floor. He checked the elevator. "C'mon, hurry up."
After the Murderous Crows dissipated, the elevator beeped, and the doors opened, ripping apart a thin layer of Enaedonai. Inside was red but not too fleshy, Booker sighing with relief. Up he went.
Meanwhile, the bathysphere approached Rapture, Cindy standing before the big glass door, clutching Little Daddy. The armoured Vox stood, staring through the glass and observing the underwater city.
They saw what Booker and blue Elizabeth had seen: the fleshy growth, giant organs, tendons and lengths of flesh growing from building to building, the strange lights, the remains of Rapture… Though, the abyssal monster was not visible.
Sofia was sitting next to Zachary, working the radio. Amidst static, she found some distorted voices, and continued tuning the radio.
"Back to Rapture, hunh, Booker?" Pinkerton Elizabeth remarked, Zachary making a halfhearted chuckle.
"Yeah. You won't get me killed this time, right?"
"Right." She made an evil face with a wicked grin. Zachary actually got a chuckle at that, and the Pinkerton smiled sweetly. It's so rare to see him smile...
"Eugh...all that fleshy matter…disgusting," old Elizabeth croaked.
"But what the hell is all a' it, really?" Daisy asked, poking the fleshy floor with her carbine.
"Enaedonai," blue Elizabeth answered. "That's what this...thing...told me. But I wonder where that huge monster with four eyes is..."
"What happened to you, anyway? Where's Booker?" Pinkerton Elizabeth asked.
"After Booker and I fell into the giant skull monster, we were saved from drowning by this...limbless creature. Called himself Tongue. But…" Elizabeth's face reddened, "we got separated. I have no idea where Booker is, but I found Eleanor after going through a Tear."
"He's me, he'll be alright. But...where the hell did all this...stuff...come from?" Zachary asked, scanning the fleshy growth all around. Elizabeth shrugged.
"Eleanor told me she figured that it grew from the abyss. Something to do about experiments by Ms. Lamb and Dr. Alexander...after his laboratory plunged into said abyss."
Sofia briefly raised her eyebrows at the mention of her, but said nothing.
"What about those sky-machines? I saw them reaching the lighthouse and ocean," the Zealot said. The Pinkerton shrugged again.
"They can only come from another world. When I met Spirry, he could control machines, psychokinetically, I suppose. Considering how much machinery there is, well, that's quite a massive Tear. Crazy to imagine a Tear gradually swallowing an entire planet." She took a breath. "Just how many people do you think the machines and those meaty monsters killed by now? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? A billion? Oh God, I can only imagine how much horror the world must be going through... And Rapture is now the only reason we are still alive."
The thought of a mechanical apocalypse was unnerving. Cindy held Little Daddy in both arms against her chest, and lowered her chin on his little head.
"Don't worry, Little Daddy, I'll keep you safe…" Cindy whispered.
"Then your leap of faith to comin' here better work," Daisy remarked.
"We had no other choice, really," Zachary said.
"A choice is better than none," blue Elizabeth quietly commented to herself.
"It will. I know I've seen it work," Pinkerton Elizabeth assured, then noticed the Zealot poking Enaedonai with his sword.
"It is all hellspawn," the Zealot assured. Pinkerton Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Just you wait. When we get to the bottom of this, there will be tortured souls, infernal machines, and fiery doom." Zachary gave the Zealot a weird look.
"I don't think even I had the creativity for that kind of hell…" Zachary mumbled, still unwilling to admit he was Father Comstock.
"I can add that Eleanor described its origins as evolving from the Luminescent Biomass, but...the thing...said Spirry referred to it as De Profundis," blue Elizabeth explained, looking up in thought.
"Spirry?" old Elizabeth asked.
"You spoke with him?" Pinkerton Elizabeth asked.
"Well, he somehow had his voice within our...ride. His voice hurt our heads. He said something about being entitled to what a man bleeds for. There was this giant monster, bigger than the one climbing the sky-machines. Spirry's voice said it was Apocata, or something like that. An actual body being a living city of Tears. A giant monster behind Rapture."
Everyone except Sofia seemed surprise.
"Sofia...know anything about this?" Zachary asked.
"Ask yourself, Zachary...if I did, I would have explained it by now."
"Huh. I bet the hunt for Spirry will lead us into his city of Tears."
"Eleanor!" Cindy suddenly cheered, everyone looking at her. Eleanor swam in front of the bathysphere and placed her hand on the glass. She waved, Cindy waved back, then Eleanor swam off like a dolphin. Cindy chuckled.
The radio made noises. Sofia tuned the radio a bit more. Men with British accents sounded.
"...Yessir, a bathysphere is on its way."
"How is that possible? Nobody knows about this lighthouse, unless they are Splicers from elsewhere. Regardless, those poor fools are in for quite a hellish surprise."
Zachary grabbed the radio, "Hello? Can you hear me? We mean no harm. We're just trying to get to the bottom of this." Nothing. "Damn radio."
Cindy squeaked from fright as a giant Sea Slug swam by, human-shaped face letting off a bellowing moan. It looked up just as it turned.
"Uh-oh, it's swimming straight for us…" blue Elizabeth said. Everyone braced themselves. The giant Sea Slug moaned again.
"Aw, shit. It better not break the glass..." Daisy whined, then the Sea Slug rammed its head into the base of the bathysphere, causing it bounce. Everyone lost balance and rolled around a bit, but the bathysphere seemed alright.
"Everyone alright?" Zachary asked once the bathysphere regained its balance.
"Yes, I'm fine. Are you okay?" blue Elizabeth said, putting her hand on old Elizabeth's shoulder. The old gal nodded.
The bathysphere approached the passageway leading into the Welcome Centre.
"Baxter, take what's left of your squad to the Welcome Centre. Fire and movement. Stay alive, commandos."
"Hey! Can you hear me?" Zachary called in the radio, but there was nothing. "Dumb radio."
The bathysphere entered the horizontal passageway, immense lengths of fleshy growth swaying around them.
ALL GOOD THINGS
OF THIS EARTH
FLOW
INTO THE CITY
The various advertisements within the vertical passageway were covered with fleshy growth. Eventually, the ride reached the Welcome Centre, quite illuminated by Enaedonai. Even the glass window at the end of the chamber was covered with the growing flesh.
The Zealot teleported out the bathysphere while the Fireman opened the door. Old Elizabeth grabbed Cindy, and everyone exited the bathysphere. The Vox, Pinkerton Elizabeth, and Zachary noticed and examine piles of bullet shells here and there.
".30 caliber rounds?" Zachary asked.
"They should be .45," the Pinkerton commented.
"Each pile is at least twenty rounds. No way anyone could shoot a pistol that fast. These aren't from Tommy guns." Zachary knelt, taking a closer look at the shells. "Looks like whoever used to be here were caught off-guard. Fired at multiple directions."
"I don't see any bodies, though," Pinkerton Elizabeth remarked.
At first, things kept quiet, but gunfire erupted further into Rapture. The Fireman's gauntlets ignited and he trudged forth. As everyone went forth, they saw more and more piles of empty shells.
Everyone ascended some stairs and regrouped with the Zealot, who jumped atop a stack of flesh-covered crates and unleashed Murder of Crows.
The Murderous Crows flushed out a score of Splicers, who began shooting machine guns. These Splicers were horrible to look at, looking like giant grubs merged into people, giving them the appearance of a two-headed parasitic monster with proboscises entering the human host's skull. The legs of the human half merged with the legs on the insect.
"Scary! Scary! Scary, scary!" Cindy squeaked. Old Elizabeth held her tighter and comforted her.
The Vox fired back, Beasts using shotguns (as they ran out of rocketry in the previous fight), Fireman throwing fireballs, Zealot teleporting behind Grub Mutants and chopping them open.
"An' I thought them crabs were ugly!" Daisy exclaimed, leaning out of cover to shoot her carbine. Sofia knelt beside Daisy, and fired at the enemy as well.
The Vox Beasts and Fireman charged, armours resisting bullets. Once the armoured Vox got close enough, the giant grubs swiped their immense forelegs at them, but how could they ever hope to pierce metal armour? The Beasts beat down the Grub Mutants, stomped upon them, then rammed their shotguns into eyeballs and fired heads open, splatting bug paste and blood everywhere.
"Come into the flame, insects!" the Fireman screamed, gauntlets dripping embers, then throwing Devil's Kiss pointblank into the horde of ghastly monsters. He punched one grub in its giant head, and the parasite screeched while rearing, ripping its proboscises out its host's head while he fired point-blank into the Fireman. Putting the monster alight caused it to fall over, insect-legs flicking. The Fireman fought wildly, flailing his arms, legs, and head while hurling Devil's Kiss, essentially weaponizing his armour. "I want to hear bug guts sizzle! Just burn! Please, BURRRN!"
The Zealot kept teleporting around, slicing the Grub Mutants' backsides and limbs whilst his Murderous Crows pecked their eyes out. Whenever the grubs lunged their bug-legs at him, he swung his sword into the incoming limbs, cutting them off. He also chopped through the proboscises and stabbed into grub-eyes, anything to maximise pain and injury.
Zachary's shields flickered up when he engaged the enemy, but he kept firing back at them. Pinkerton Elizabeth knelt and shot one of the Grub Mutants dead just as it leapt at her, flopping dead on the floor.
The other Elizabeths kept their heads low, taking cover behind crates. Blue Elizabeth summoned cover for Zachary, but his shields shattered anyways, and he fell over with a grunt.
"Zachary!" young Elizabeth cried, running over to him as the gunfight intensified.
Pinkerton Elizabeth sensed a Tear and summoned a Mosquito, which joined the fray.
"Dammit! I was hoping for a Patriot… Elizabeth! Keep your head down!" the Pinkerton shouted, old Elizabeth summoning a Gun Automaton to provide Zachary cover fire.
"Zachary, stay with me!"
He struggled to stay conscious, everything gray and flashing, but young Elizabeth worked her medical abilities to treat him. Scuttling behind her was some sort of giant big with humans arms, human legs sticking out the back of its hind legs, about the size of a Big Daddy. The Monster Bug wielded a machine gun, fly-face cocking side to side as bullets bounced off its exoskeleton.
Zachary raised his revolver over Elizabeth's shoulder, and fired at the Monster Bug's ugly face. Elizabeth covered her ears and leaned into Zachary. The Monster Bug raised its machine gun and opened fire, Zachary rolling around Elizabeth as shields regenerated just enough to block some bullets. As he finished his roll, he threw Old Man Winter at the beastly bug. One of the Vox Beasts swung his shotgun two-handed, shattering the Monster Bug's leg and it fell over. A shot across its face caused it to roll onto its back, twitching.
More screeching echoed. Perhaps a dozen more Grub Mutants and several Monster Bugs approached the scene.
"Get back! Too many of them!" Daisy yelled, the Beasts' and Fireman's armours clearly damaged, the Fireman smoking and flaming through holes.
Zachary threw a Possession trap overhead the Vox. It erupted, affecting a score of the mutants and causing them to fight their own. This gave the Vox the break they needed, the Zealot teleporting behind cover while the summoned Mosquito and Gun Automaton picked off a few more creatures.
"This place just keeps gettin' crazier and crazier!" Daisy exclaimed while reloading her carbine.
Whilst the Possessed insectoid Splicers caused havoc, everyone else took the advantage to maximise damage before the enemy regained their senses. More fireballs arched, exploding into the horde of monstrous bugs. Sofia, Zachary, and the Elizabeths turned their heads, seeing Eleanor running to the scene, suit dripping with water, visor beaming red.
Eleanor unleashed a wave of telekinetic power, blasting a score of monsters back, then fried them up with the Fireman, even the Possessed monsters. Within seconds, the combined use of Plasmids, Vigors and bullets decimated the insectoid mutants, leaving most dead, in chunks, or twitching. The Mosquito and Gun Automaton soon phased out of reality. The few remaining dying or incapacitated bug Splicers were finished off. The fight was over, and everyone relaxed, going out of cover.
"Rapture has definitely changed quite a bit!" Eleanor exclaimed, visor green.
"Excuse me, mister, let me help you…" blue Elizabeth said, stepping to the Fireman, who was rather leaky and overheating. She used her powers to revert his suit into its past form.
"I was actually looking forward to blowing up." His comment surprised Elizabeth.
"That's...hey, can you do that for me, too?" a Beast asked.
"Yeah, just give me some time..."
"Someone's coming!" Eleanor warned, helmet turning yellow, and everyone got ready. To her surprise, eight marines appeared, their coats and uniforms rather messy and torn. The marines raised their L1A1 rifles at the odd newcomers.
"Put your guns down! Now!" the squad leader barked, though the Vox and Zachary did not obey, the Fireman's hands engulfing in flames, and the Zealot's crows perching on his shoulders.
"We ain't here to take orders from ya. Ya'll don't stand a chance," Daisy warned.
"You're the ones who should be putting their guns down," Zachary commented.
"Please don't fight…" blue Elizabeth whispered.
The marines were unphased, gripping their rifles and ready for some more violence.
Eleanor suddenly teleported between the two groups, hands raised.
"Wait! Stop!" she yelled, getting everyone's attention. She teleported again, reappearing in front of the squad leader, who slightly reared, his men aiming at Eleanor. "Nobody shoot! We're on the same side!" She turned to face the Vox. "Let's all just keep our weapons down. We're not Splicers. We can work together. We have to work together to survive."
At that, everyone lowered their weapons. The marines remained suspicious.
"Alright...who the hell are ya, Ms.?" the sergeant asked.
"I'm Eleanor. We're… Well, as you have obviously noticed, Rapture is quite unlike the surface. Explain everything my mother and I will, and any questions we will answer. But first, take us to your comrades, now.
After a couple seconds of silence, the squad leader lowered his rifle.
"Quite unlike the surface indeed. Nothing in Operation Banner could even begin to prepare us for this underwater hellhole."
One of the marine's radio tuned in, the radio Sofia had catching the signal as well.
"Baxter, status report!"
The squad leader gestured to one of his men.
The signaler took his radio. "Lieutenant, we found them after a fierce gunfight with Splicers, they are not hostile. We have no casualties. Returning to HQ with 'em."
"You better move it, a train is on its way."
Their HQ must be in the research labs. Good. We'll board the train soon enough. Just need to explain everything to these commandos... Eleanor thought to herself.
Eleanor was rather impressed by the marines, as they had killed a few dozen bug-mutants to reach the Welcome Centre. Going deeper into the Welcome Centre, the Gatherer's Garden voice sounded, oblivious to the fleshy growth everywhere. There were also a few groups of dead Splicers here and there, no match for elite soldiers with modern weaponry.
"I know Rapture very well. Follow me, I know the fastest route to Arcadia," Eleanor said.
"Stay back, Ms.," a marine said.
Eleanor's hands lit up with large fireballs as she walked ahead of the marines. "I can handle myself, sir."
The commandos let Eleanor lead the party.
Heading towards Arcadia was not too difficult, with previous bathyspheres remaining used for transportation, Eleanor able to bypass the genetic code by connecting with The Thinker. Oddly enough, Eleanor noticed that some sections of Rapture seemed to have duplicated or were split by immense Tears. At times, it was as if some Tears forced everyone to loophole at random sections of Rapture.
With so many people, they needed two trips per bathysphere to get everyone to the next locale. Coincidentally, the bathysphere crossed paths with another, the submersibles almost colliding. The other bathysphere turned out to be Porter's, and inside, standing behind the window, was a Big Sister.
Eventually, the Elizabeths figured out how to stop the Tears from loopholing. They did this by opening new Tears inside the loopholing Tears. As always, the Tears did not actually send them to another world, but all Tears seemed to be stuck in this world.
When not in bathyspheres, with so many guns and Plasmids ready, the groups of Splicers Eleanor's party met had no chance. The Splicers did not have enough time to say anything to Sofia, and even if they did recognize her, she made no attempt at communication. Sometimes, the regular Splicers stumbled upon were fighting bug mutants, though everything in the way was killed.
A score of Security Bots occasionally flew by, shooting the Splicers and mutants. The bots would then fly off, seeking out more foes to kill. The bots' behaviour surprised the marines, who surely had to shoot other bots down once in a while. Eleanor's bond with The Thinker seemed to allow her to connect to robotics and activate them on her side with vastly improved AI.
Everyone who were able took the dead Splicers' guns. Whenever more ammo was needed, Eleanor would use her telekinesis to rip away the flesh growing over El Ammo Banditos, then break the vending machines open. The Elizabeths summoned supplies as well, allowing the Vox Beasts to resupply with appropriate rocketry for their arsenal.
Occasionally, the Elizabeths noticed sections of flesh-covered architecture with auras, some other auras floating in the air, but said nothing, even when everyone past through the auras. After passing some narrow cave-like passages, they reached the Tea Garden. Even the trees and ferns were covered with Enaedonai, giving the entire place a rather nightmarish appearance.
While the Pinkerton looked up at a fleshy tree, an eyeball opened and blinked at her. She quivered. She turned her head, and saw the Zealot stab another eyeball that appeared. A sword stabbing into a giant eyeball caused Elizabeth to grimace.
"Can we please rest for a while? My feet and knees really hurt…" old Elizabeth complained, putting Cindy down. The child scurried off to explore. "Cindy!"
"Don't go too far, kiddo," Zachary called.
"I know!" Cindy assured.
Everyone else stopped, but the marines and Vox kept their guard up. The marines often looked at the Fireman, wondering what was up with him.
"Are you...on fire?" one of the marines asked. The Fireman started clubbing his gauntlets against his helm.
"It burns! It burns! It burns! It burns so much! If only Comstock could be put in this suit!"
"Columbia is already destroyed, y'know…" Daisy remarked. The Fireman looked at her.
"I still want to burn everything!"
Cindy's exploration led her to Waterfall Grotto. Amidst the corridors and architecture, she saw a vent.
"Oo, a hidey hole. Haven't been in one of those for forever!" She scampered to the vent and mounted the bottom part, and jumped. She little hands clenched the edge of the hole, but the Enaedonai caused her fingers to slip. After several tries, she gave up to look around elsewhere.
Cindy waddled down some flesh-covered wooden paths and looked down at the waterwheel, save that all the water was blood.
"I'd like to play on that, but…" She heard old Elizabeth calling her name. "Coming, little mama!" She was about to run along, but then heard something. "Sounds like...a bee! Bzzzizzz-zih-zih-zih-zzz!" She ran around a corner and found a large Tear dropping blood along its rim.
The bleeding Tear revealed a scene of hanging mechanical lengths, many gently swaying. Walking through them was a man, who stopped, then looked back at Cindy with an eyeless face.
"Oh! Um…" Cindy paused from fear. Michael tilted his head, but did nothing. He looked forwards as loud footfall and heavy breathing sounded.
Michael spread his arms slightly and smiled.
"Surely, after all this time, you would realize this has more to do with what I have become, rather than what I once was," Michael commented, blood leaking out his eyes as usual. A guttural grunt sounded further around the Tear, but Cindy could not see what it was. "After all, if the laws of biology apply to the universe, then power is not limited to girls named Elizabeth. So long as a mind is connected to the laws of physics, mutations will occur."
"You fucking grub," Spirry's voice grumbled, "I thought I killed you. You and those twins just keep coming back…"
"Natus in morte, Mikha'el. You entrapped the Luteces, but you cannot enchain me." Michael lifted his chin, and many of the mechanical lengths in front of him whipped forth, followed by ripping noises and a growl. Michael clasped his hands behind his back and took a few steps to the Tear, but kept looking sideways. "There are ways to break rules, even yours. When I caused the girl's mother to be summoned, I learned all I needed to know of Tears and the chaos of life and death. I will come back always, until I finish what I want."
By the sounds of it, Spirry was ripping the mechanical lengths out himself, but the forest of machines kept him away from Michael.
Cindy just stood where she stood, and hugged her doll. She listened to the rather incoherent discussion. It seemed that Spirry and Michael spoke about what they wanted to talk about, rather than develop a conversation properly. Almost as if Spirry spoke to himself through two different bodies.
"Eleanor has arrived. Her presence will be the catalyst of your destruction. Just because you break rules, does not mean you change the constances."
"Intus mens, vos omnes contra omnis… You have no control of yourself or the many versions of yourself...forever trapped in eternal conflict amidst the worlds. A bigger mess than Mr. DeWitt." Michael walked back and forth while gesticulating, "but...I will continue absorbing your drives and memories, and the girls' drives and memories, until all your minds are empty. No matter how many worlds you destroy...once I have total control of Tears, everything you have done will account for nothing. You, and all your versions, will have never even existed…gone forever. And everything else will merge, and finish the synchronization, without you."
"That will result in your own annihilation as well," Spirry warned. "You are still part of me. You will never change that."
"I know. But I am also part of him, and his rules do not apply to you. Only a part of me will be destroyed, but it is a suitable sacrifice to live the reality I want. That is...to live the reality my surviving self desires."
"A reality I will make sure the three of you will never see." When Spirry said that, Michael paused, and looked at him.
"If this is something that can be stopped, then try to stop it."
"You are limited to the power you absorbed. I am not. What is perinormal cannot supercede what is paranormal."
"The Luteces failed. Elizabeth failed. Eleanor failed. You failed. No one can break your rules better than me."
"The constance of rule-breaking also applies to Eleanor. She will come," Spirry said, sounding like he was almost free.
Michael stopped, clasped his hands behind his back, and faced the Tear. Cindy blinked innocently.
"I know. Although you bonded with her, you will be the cause of her death. You will inevitably rip her guts out and devour her. That is why I will kill her before she dies because of you, and destroy that constance before it happens. Non me constringis cupivisset. Nyeh-heh-heh-heh heh heh hehh hehhh!"
Spirry broke free and growled, and Michael simply stepped through the Tear. It closed behind him, the many machines screeching and swinging like crazy. Michael pat Cindy on the head, smiled, and he walked off.
"Cindy! Can you hear me? Where are you?" old Elizabeth's voice echoed.
"Coming!" Cindy ran off.
"There you are! Don't scare me like that! C'mon, let's go back to the others…" The old gal held Cindy's hand, and they walked together.
Everyone moved on, towards Rolling Hills. A Tear walled across the entire space, revealing that inside was lush and green; Enaedonai did not grow beyond the Tear. The marines walked through the Tear without thinking.
"Huh...it's like this Tear only partly affects the world…" Pinkerton Elizabeth commented.
"I was about to say the same time," blue Elizabeth said.
Old Elizabeth sighed with relief, "glad we don't have to walk in meat anymore."
"Yeah, same," Zachary said.
"Oh? I found it...fascinating," blue Elizabeth commented.
"Feel free to go back there," the Pinkerton remarked, but her other counterpart decided not to.
It was not long until another group of British marines went through the trees, rather surprised at the newcomers' appearances.
"Radio Mortimer that we're here," the squad leader instructed his signaller, who obeyed.
"Sgt. Fraser, what did you find in the train?" the lieutenant's voice asked.
One of the marines from the other group took his own radio, "Nothing, the train's empty. There's just big bloody footprints inside."
"That train will take us to the facilities that probably created all of this," Eleanor said, then looked at the signaller, "tell your lieutenant my mother and I can explain everything we know."
"Our...new friends seem to know things about Rapture we do not."
"Bring them immediately."
"Yessir. Right this way, people."
Everyone headed towards the Research Laboratories, where Langford once worked. Blue Elizabeth was quite curious about the flesh-covered vegetation, though the Vox and other gunslinging types remained cautious.
"Don't ya just kinda wanna shoot dem eyes an' hearts poppin' out?" a Vox Beast remarked.
"It's best to not attract any more attention," a marine remarked.
Eventually, they reached the offices, though Enaedonai still grew everywhere. Various marines stood on guard here and there, a few signallers sitting on flesh-covered chairs and working their radios on flesh-covered tables to chat with other squads elsewhere. A few marines smoked.
Eleanor took her helmet off, carrying it under her arm. On the bright side, there were no leaks anywhere, Enaedonai having sealed them. Eleanor noticed the Vita-Chamber, still working. Her shoulders and chin lowered. If only...
"You and your mother will be coming with us," the squad leader said to Eleanor. "The rest of you, stay behind and keep an eye out."
After passing through the next door, ascending stairs, and going through a glass tunnel, Eleanor, Mother, and the squad leader reached Langford's office. Curiously enough, Enaedonai did not grow in the office, but blood stains covered the architecture and furniture. Inside, a few marines sat at a table, discussing plans while examining papers and maps.
"Eleanor? Is that you?" a woman asked as she stepped through the double doors.
"Hm?" Eleanor's face filled with surprise when Brigid Tenenbaum hugged her.
"Oh! Child, is so good to see you!"
Eleanor returned with a one-armed hug, smiling, "nice to see you, too. I thought you died."
"I thought exactly the same." When they finished their hug, Brigid's face loosened.
"What happened to your eye, child?" Tenenbaum asked.
"I got shot in the face."
"You survived being shot in the face?"
Eleanor nodded, then noticed that Mother had a rather stern face, arms crossed.
"Oh, you," Brigid remarked, she and Sofia not glad to see each other. Mother took a step closer to Brigid.
"She is not your daughter." Sofia's words and stare were cold. Brigid frowned.
"If only you had a heart, Dr. Lamb..." Ms. Tenenbaum remarked.
"Ladies," the squad leader interrupted, "come in."
Inside, the lieutenant gestured the ladies to sit.
"Tell us everything."
"I'll paraphrase. Then go to the train we must, before it's too late," Eleanor said. Once she sat, she rest her helmet on her lap.
"What happened to your eye?" the lieutenant asked, rather changing the subject.
"I got shot in the face."
"You survived being shot in the face?"
Eleanor nodded.
"Let us tell you what we know, now…"
The explanation went well enough. Eleanor and Sofia spoke their viewpoints of Rapture's history involving themselves, Brigid adding a little here and there.
"Alright. That's...not what I was expecting," the lieutenant remarked.
"This nightmare truly does not want to end," Brigid lamented. "When The Thinker told us what would happen, Porter and I contacted the British military..."
"That was our only clue before we were sent to investigate this place," the lieutenant said. "After the 41 Commando entered Rapture via Porter's bathysphere, shit hit the fan really hard. From what I've heard in the radio, the fleet was sunk by some underwater force. Our battalion nearly got wiped out by Splicers, we had no idea what waited for us. We are all that's left."
"How many times must I return here to finally end the Rapture Nightmare?" Brigid asked herself.
"This time, Tenenbaum, it's not your fault. What do you know of the Luminescent Biomass?" Eleanor asked.
"I think it was the source of the Sea Slugs' evolution."
"Did anyone in Rapture ever investigate?"
"Not that I know of."
"Mother, did you?" Sofia shook her head.
"That Luminescent Biomass is at least partly responsible for everything that's happened. We'll find more clues in Fontaine Futuristics, I just know it. I already sent the train from there to Arcadia."
"Splicers everywhere!" a voice shouted through the radio, followed by heavy gunfire. The lieutenant grabbed the radio and changed channels. "Dammit! They got Le Roux!"
"No man gets left behind! Get him and get out of there!" the lieutenant yelled. The sounds of Security Bots and an alarm went through the radio.
"Thinker's sending bots to help us! Don't shoot them!" Porter's voice sounded in the background of the comchatter. "To the Computer Core! We can escape with my bathysphere!"
"We need to get going, now! Use the train to get to Fontaine Futuristics! I'll meet you there!" Eleanor put her helmet on, then teleported, the marines quite surprised when she did that!
Eleanor teleported outside into the waters, then swam towards Minerva's Den, visor yellow. After teleporting a few more times, she appeared in the air, next to the Thinker's core, hearing the electricity and humming of the machine. As she fell, her visor turned red and she drove both feet downwards into a Splicer's head, amplifying her fall with a powerful gravitational pull. The force pinned the Splicer against the floor with a broken neck.
To Eleanor's surprise, the Computer Core was unaffected by Enaedonai. She hurled fireballs at the horde of Splicers around her, Security Bots flying overhead and showering the freaks with bullets. But there was something wrong with these Splicers. They were all naked and skinless, with elongated limbs and necks, and enlarged heads. Their chests protracted with every heartbeat. They appeared to be something between a Splicer and a fleshy monster, their eyes bloodshot and fierce, eyelids, cheeks and lips absent. Although they tended to crawl on all fours, they still wielded various guns, firing while they crawled, shooting up at the marines who were upstairs and keeping a defensive position. Eleanor saw one of the marines get shot in the forehead and fall limply. Another marine was shot in the chest and slumped over, but continued firing at his attackers.
Fuck! I'm too late! I have to fight quickly!
Eleanor unleashed as much Plasmids as she could, blasting away a score of fleshy Splicers, but more and more just kept crawling. Amidst the fight, one of the fleshy Splicers leapt at Eleanor. She drove her needle clean through his sternum, catching him mid-air. Impaled, he writhed and clawed at Eleanor. With her free hand, she pulled his Tommy gun out his grasp and fired several rounds into his skull. She threw his body into a few other freaks and fired the Tommy gun in one hand while she used Plasmids with the other. Once her Tommy gun ran out of bullets, she threw it at the freaks.
Elsewhere, an Incinerate was cast.
Who cast that!?
An engulfed marine screamed and writhed, and was promptly shot dead by Splicers who had ran up the stairs. A grenade was thrown, explosion shredding the Splicers open.
Eleanor sidestepped, one of the Splicers extending its arm and freezing the flooring next to her. Her psychokinesis lifted most of the fleshy Splicers, many of whom were fried and full of bullet holes, yet they fought anyways. They hissed, and swiped their arms and fired chaotically mid-air, but were easy targets for the marines and Security Bots. One of the fleshy Splicers cast Electrobolt at her. She screamed from the electrocution, losing control of her telekinesis and the targets falling.
Just as many Splicers aimed at Eleanor, a dolphin-screech echoed, followed by explosive fireballs showering the freaks. Once Eleanor's electrocution subsided, she saw a Big Sister sprint to the fight, visor red, and attack with fiery and telekinetic Plasmids. The Big Sister charged with her wrist-mounted needle, poking holes in skulls amidst Plasmids.
"Glad to see you again!" Eleanor called, then the echoes of hisses and growls came. The BIg Sister screamed like a dolphin and headed for the echoes, while the marines and Security Bots finished off the freaks who remained.
Eleanor looked through the window overlooking The Thinker, and teleported again. She reappeared above another Splicer as it crawled and hissed, ramming her feet into the back of its neck and breaking it. Eleanor saw Porter lying on his back beside the Code Printer panel. He bled out his mouth and through many bullet holes. He held a shotgun, and several dead fleshy Splicers lied nearby.
"Porter!" Eleanor ran to him, then heard several more fleshy Splicers force the door open, shooting machine guns. Eleanor spun around, hurling fireballs, while Porter cocked his shotgun and fired the last shells.
Amidst the stream of bullets, bullets bounced off Eleanor's Big Sister suit, but Porter was ripped open with bullets. Eleanor turned, big-eyed, and saw Porter glow green and then fade away. A trail of glowing greenness flowed off. She sighed with relief.
Good. The Vita-Chamber here still works. If only it could be used to apply to more genetic codes...
Eleanor used her telekinesis to powerfully throw the fleshy Splicers against the ceiling, then pulled their guns out their grasp with another wave of telekinesis. She killed them with a mix of Electrobolts and telekinetic attacks. She teleported out to help the marines kill the rest of the fleshy Splicers. Once that was done, Porter returned, and fixed the position of his glasses. His shotgun was slung over the shoulder, he had two holstered revolvers, and a radio at his belt.
"Being taken by the military, narrowly escaping the apocalypse, exploring a flesh-covered Rapture, shooting guns, dying a hundred times, trying to save the world...I'm too old for this." Porter looked up at The Thinker, then saw Eleanor walk by.
"Nice to see you, too," Eleanor remarked as she took her green-lit helmet off, and smiled.
"Hello again, Ms. Lamb. I did not expect to see you here! I thought there was no way anyone could survive those sky-machines, but The Thinker kept telling me you were still alive. Wait, what happened to your eye?"
"I got shot in the face."
"You survived being shot in the face?"
"I've been getting that a lot lately. What were you doing here, anyway?"
"The Thinker informed me of its newest sample, one that eradicates the...fleshy biomass. It is ready to be formulated, I just need to find a Gene Bank."
The marines trudged down the stairs, numbering only four. Their signaller took his radio.
"Lieutenant, the gunfight's over. Davis, Schmidt, Hayes, Kowalski and Le Roux didn't make it..."
The Big Sister teleported back, and stood with her knees bent inward. More screeches and hisses echoed from afar. The Security Bots flew off, presumably to intercept the incoming threat.
"We have to get going! Everyone's on their way to the Fontaine Futuristics HQ via train," Eleanor said.
"Everything I need for the Plasmid is in my private office. We take that then head to my bathysphere."
The echoes of hisses and screeches amplified. It would not be long until another horde of fleshy Splicers came.
"Let's move," a marine said.
Everyone went to Porter's private office, where he prepared a bunch of things in a suitcase. The solemn scenery of unlit, melted candles, pictures of Pearl, and Charles' lifework did not affect him negatively.
"All for you, Pearl," Milton whispered.
The sounds of Security Bot guns and other firearms echoed.
"There, that's all I need!" Porter yelled, and everyone ran towards the bathysphere as fleshy Splicers pooled into the office.
The Big Sisters cast fiery Plasmids as they skipped backwards, then blasted the Splicers back with gravitational Plasmids, which also threw furniture and papers everywhere. The marines provided cover fire while Porter entered the bathysphere, the Big Sisters teleporting in. Once the marines entered, Porter activated the lever. While the door closed, Eleanor teleported out and caused more havoc with Plasmids, then teleported back inside the bathysphere as it descended.
"How did you do that?" a marine asked.
"Oh, teleportation just happens. You wouldn't understand, and there's no time to explain. Consider it the merging of quantum mechanics and genetics," Eleanor replied.
Everyone calmed down and took their seats, except the Big Sister, who sat cross-legged on the floor.
"That was close," a marine remarked. The Big Sister looked at him.
"Yeah. Thanks for helping us with your...magic. I don't think we would have made it without you," another marine said, the Big Sister looking at him. Eleanor nodded.
"I wish I could have saved your mates. But we can't help them now," Eleanor said. The Big Sister looked at her.
"Their sacrifice was not in vain. Once this new Plasmid is put to use, we can eradicate the fleshy biomass at a molecular level," Porter said, the Big Sister continuing her trance at staring at whoever was talking. "This will be the first step to neutralizing...that devilish chap known as Spirry."
"Good. Any ideas on how to deal with the skyborne machinery?" Eleanor asked. Porter's radio crackled.
"When the machines came, I connected to them," The Thinker's voice sounded from Charles' radio. "I was able to crack the equivalent of a network, but not with complete success. I slowed down processes by 66.6 percent. Currently, my rebuilt form is not yet destroyed, and maintains a steady interception of the machines while seeking new algorithms and exploitations."
"Excellent. Keep at it, Thinker, the world depends on you," Porter said.
"Finally...some good news," Eleanor commented. Though, I don't see any future even if we survive…
Booker awoke with a snort. He had sat on the floor with his back to the wall. His drowsy face noticed huge, bloody footprints along the fleshy flooring, footprints that had no heel and seemed to belong to a predatory animal. In fact, there was a puddle of blood between Booker's legs. He grabbed his Hand Cannon from the floor, got up, and looked around. The fleshy hallway was littered with dead Splicers, Splicers he had shot dead sometime ago.
Down the centre of the hallway was the trail of bloody footprints. By the looks of it, whatever caused them, had stopped before Booker while he slept, then moved on. Booker checked himself, but he was mostly unwounded, save for some scrapes and bruises. He looked up the hallway, in the direction of the footprints.
"Alright…let's keep looking for her." He followed the footprints.
Booker's search remained unsuccessful, the footprints seemingly went on forever. He sighed, then looked back and around.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm being watched? Ugh...Elizabeth, you better not be dead."
Booker overheard the intercoms wheeze to life, the crackling electrical noises reverberated throughout the headquarters.
"I will not tell you what you already know. But what I will say, at last, the Rapture Family is reborn," Sofia's voice sounded from the intercoms. She and everyone else had reached the HQ, and Sofia, unsurprisingly, had scuttled to the position of her former power.
"I never wished to be viewed as leader, but as mother. When my daughter rejected her mother, I did not give up. I went after her. From Ireland to New York, did Mother seek her daughter...the people's daughter… And, when found...she came back, reborn. Like the lost Lamb, once fuelled by the gene and the self… Once a voice I could not recognize... You too, my friends, can be born again in the Rapture Family. My absence was a blessing and a test, to harden the most faithful... Like the souls between us, together, we must break a special tyrant who has corrupted our Utopia! He roams freely, and I have personally seen him, how he weighs, and measures, and cuts, and rips… He has no family. No friends. No country. He thinks only to indulge in suffering and destruction; nothing else exists but his endless obsession of sadomasochism. The Rapture Family is to reunite at Persephone, and we shall drive out this tyrant for the better good."
"What the hell is that woman talking about? Well, whatever. Persephone...must be a place somewhere here," Booker mumbled. He explored and searched, but it was basically impossible for him to find signs telling him where to go. Sofia's speech of genes, the self, tyrants, and the better good were rather annoying to Booker. It brought back bad memories.
Sometime later, Booker saw an aura walling across the hallway.
"A Tear? Maybe Elizabeth went there?" He stepped through the Tear, and noticed lots of dead Splicers in the adjacent area. "Wait, I was already here... I killed these uglies. Ugh...the Tear just sent me back to where I was. Do Tears just have no use anymore?"
Booker followed the bloody footprints again. Soon, his own footfall seemed rather loud, pressing against the Enaedonai and making squishy noises. A bit confused, Booker slowed his pace, but still heard the heavy footfall. He stopped. He listened. The footfall became louder. That was when Booker felt someone's breath on the back of his neck. The hot, heavy, bodily vapour enshrouded his head for a second. Once it dissipated, he heard slow, deep, heavy breathing, sounding like a furnace. Even his heartbeat was audible.
"Shit." Booker had no idea how he sneaked up on him like that.
A transparent green lady hovered beside Booker, then erupted. Unaffected, Booker turned around, left hand glowing green. The beast before him was big, bloody, fleshy, muscular, and demonic. It was the same Spirry he had seen in his dream with Eleanor.
The Possession trap clearly worked. Spirry's body had a green aura, and he seemed confused. He leaned forwards, looking down, empty eye sockets leaking blood.
"Well, the black leather coat looks good on ya," Booker complimented.
"Couldn't find a hat. Wanted to look like Comstock's devilish portray of Abraham Lincoln," Spirry gargled, blood leaking out his mouth as always.
"I...wasn't expecting that. But you can talk, and I'm not afraid of you anymore. So, why are you trying to kill me, even in my dreams?"
Spirry snorted, straightened his back, and clasped his hands behind his back.
"Because of who you are, and what you would become."
Booker frowned.
"And what would I become?"
"Father Comstock."
Silence. Booker thought of what Zachary, old Elizabeth and the Pinkerton told him. The familiar static and tuning in his brains came back. He touched his nose, blood. When he looked back at Spirry, the Possession effect ended, but the green aura remained. Spirry slowly tilted his head.
"And for that, you have to die, Dutchman. A father who sells his own flesh and blood should not live." The green aura faded away, yet Spirry did nothing.
"Wait, no… I didn't… I ran out with her! I didn't sell her! No! No, no, no, no… This time was different… Robert was dead, Eleanor killed him… There's no more debt! It's off!"
"Yes, Dutchman, indeed. The debt is off, I made sure of that. Eleanor killed Robert when I reverted her into an unstable Big Sister state. In her rage, she killed Mr. Lutece, as if Anna was her Little Sister. She then beat you good, Dutchman, didn't she?"
Booker frowned. The fact that Eleanor beat him unconscious was unpleasant.
"Yes, she did… Why are you calling me Dutchman?"
"DeWitt is a Dutch surname, Booker. As an American you didn't know that, did you? A man who is familiar with only one language speaks English."
"Well, whatever… What do you want from me? I don't have any Salts left, and if you wanted me dead, you would have killed me by now."
"I could kill you within seconds, Dutchman. But the girl...has just requested that I change my mind. I think she has forgiven you." Spirry straightened his head and slightly looked up.
"What girl?"
"But the other girl, Eleanor, she-"
"Dammit, pal, enough with the riddles! Just answer the question! ANSWER ME! Son of a BITCH!" Booker was ready to try to maul the monster, leaning into Spirry, face red, veins throbbing.
"Eleanor...she chose to return the baby to you. And so it was, Eleanor broke the constance, this time. I'm afraid the baby...ended up in an unforeseen state due to Eleanor's decision."
"For the love of god, pal! I'm not here to listen to stories and riddles!" Booker yelled through gritted teeth. In his rage, he punched Spirry across the jaw, hearing it shuffle with a wet noise, but the beast did not react, and Booker's hand really hurt. The pain made him realize how hopeless it was to fight Spirry. Booker calmed down a bit. Spirry cocked his head, but did nothing.
"Just… Just tell me what happened to my daughter, please…" Booker's brains reverberated with tuning and static distortion. More bleed leaked out his nose.
"When you took the baby and escaped me, what did you do, Mr. DeWitt?" Spirry asked as Booker wiped his nose with his sleeve.
"I ran away with her, of course! Then the Vox attacked New York, and... But that can't make sense. Eleanor could not have been there… What the hell is going on..."
Spirry straightened his head, as if examining Booker, or expecting him to talk more.
"Booker, what happened to Anna," a gentle voice requested, but it was quite raspy and gurgly.
"El-Elizabeth? Is that you?" Booker asked, looking around, but he could not see her anywhere. He looked back at the demon. "I… I don't know. I don't remember. I just don't know!"
Spirry briefly lifted his chin diagonally, gesturing Booker to turn around. He turned, but saw no one.
"Go, show him what he has forgotten… Before time runs out. I will not change my mind again, girl," Spirry said.
"Wait, wait...what's going on?" Booker quietly demanded. Spirry leaned into Booker, Booker feeling Spirry's breath go down his neck.
"You will see, Mr. DeWitt. You will see."
Spirry's heavy breathing, and loud heartbeat, stopped. Booker turned his head, but Spirry was gone. All that was left of him was a puddle of blood. Booker felt someone grab his hand from behind. The grip was warm, wet, slippery. He looked down, seeing a small hand gently grasping his own, the little hand missing skin, the tendons and veins visible. He heard a heartbeat, but not even half as loud as Spirry's.
"Booker...come with me," a young woman's soothing, but raspy and gurgly, voice spoke. Booker suddenly felt cold. He remained motionless and breathless.
He did not want to look back.