He could smell her blood.
"This way, Booker. We don't have much time left."
Witness your history, Dutchman, Spirry's voice gargled in Booker's mind.
He heard a Tear open, and whichever version of Elizabeth this was, tugged his arm. Head kept low, Booker slowly turned. This Tear had a shadowy complexion, like the ones Michael formed. Booker stepped in.
He heard...running water? His shoes and pants soaked as he walked through a pretty creek, still feeling her hand holding his. But, he kept his eyes low, staring into the water. His guide's blood flowed down the creek as she walked through the waters with skinless feet...
"Wait, a minute…I know this place." Booker let his arm drop, their hands letting go.
"Tell me what this place is."
"It's where… It's where… It's where I went after Wounded Knee. Would have been twenty years ago. I was…"
"Tell me why you were here."
"I… I regretted everything." Booker walked through the waters slowly, as if lost.
"You wanted your past erased."
"Yes."
"You wanted to have your sins cleansed."
"Yes, yes..."
"You wanted to leave everything behind. You wanted to be born again in the blood of the Lamb."
"Y-yes."
"You wanted Jesus to wash you clean and make you born again."
"Yes!"
"So why didn't you do it?"
He just stared into the water.
"I… Do you really think a dunk in a creek will change anything?" Booker asked with some heat.
"Booker...will you look at me?"
Her question made him pause.
"No."
He felt her hand gently grab his.
"Nn...no."
"Please…"
"N-no...I don't want to!" Booker pulled his hand out her wet grip and stepped away. He could not bring himself to look at her. Then, his foot hit something under the water. He looked down, and saw himself, in the water...
He motionlessly stared for a few seconds.
"That's what you really want, isn't it?"
Booker was crushed. His spine and skin tingled. The tingling gradually became distorted tuning and static.
"Booker...you're bleeding."
After he touched his nose, he stared back at the corpse of himself.
"It can't be me. Ih-ih-it's Zachary, just younger! Can't be me, it's... It's...me. I...I died here. But, but how…" Booker hesitated. "How can I be dead, and alive, at the same time?" he whispered. He thought hard. "Is it Zachary? Is it me?"
"You're both."
Booker did nothing. He just stared at the corpse as memories, old and new, rushed his mind.
"This is where everything should have ended..."
"Just because the tree is uprooted, does not mean the seeds are dead… Booker, we need to get going, before it's too late, but… There's one more thing I have to show you."
Booker headed up the little hill slowly and weakly. He still could not look at her. Booker opened the shrine, and stepped through...
Greyscale darkness. Booker felt Anna in his arms, staring at her dad with big blue eyes. He burst through the building's door, hearing Eleanor and Spirry fighting up in the higher floors. He looked up, and saw a rocket flying straight towards him...
Booker sat up with a gasp, and a big headache. He looked around the greyscale streets of New York, and raised his chin up. The Vox fleet bombarded the city.
"But why the Vox? Why not Comstock, or Eliza... Wait…" Booker touched the sidewalk and felt around. "Anna!? Oh God, ANNA!" Booker screamed as he got up and looked around. Rocketry blasted buildings all around him.
As smoke billowed, Booker ran down the streets. Debris rained upon him and everywhere he went. He did not even think about Spirry or Eleanor, he just ran like hell.
"Ffffh-ahh!" He endured deafening explosions, flaming debris, ashes, smoke, and embers. He thought he heard a distant cry. "Anna…"
A building collapsed, avalanching smoking debris across the road. Without thinking, Booker ran over the debris, coughing, clothes, hair, face and hands receiving a wave of heat. But he pushed on while the city exploded around him.
He heard a ghostly cry of a baby. He followed his instincts and raced after it. His feet, heart and lungs seared with pain from his overexertion. He smelled burning hair, but no matter how seared he became, he would never stop.
Turning around a corner, he raced down the next road, but an explosion from behind threw him down. Deafness and incapacitation gripped him for a few seconds. With a groan, he got up and limped on, pumping with so much adrenaline he did not care about pain. He heard the ghostly cry again...
Booker had no choice but to follow his paternal instincts. He shielded himself from more explosions, then ran down an alley. He saw someone standing up ahead, back facing him. A Tear appeared.
"ANNNAAA!"
Just as the figure was about to step into the Tear, Booker grabbed his arm and turned him around. The figure wore a blue school uniform that seemed too short for him. He had long dark hair and a heavy beard. Blood leaked out his empty eye sockets, drizzling over his shirt and some of it leaking onto the baby in his arms.
Booker grabbed the helmetless Boy of Silence's arms, trying to wrench his baby free as she wailed and kicked.
"Give her back you son of a bitch! Give her back!" the two struggled as the Tear expanded.
The Boy of Silence cocked his head, blood now gushing out his eye sockets.
"GIVE HER BACK!" The struggle continued.
The Boy grinned. Blood poured out in-between his teeth, Booker even hearing the Boy's teeth gnashing. Anna writhed and screamed as the Boy's blood drenched her. The Tear moved forwards, going between Booker and the Boy of Silence.
"Sometimes, skin disappears, Mr. DeWitt," Michael said as the Tear made echoing rips. Michael's face deformed until his skin, hair, beard and clothes began to rip off. He kept grinning, even as his nose, cheeks and lips peeled off, until there was nothing left but a meaty skull sprinkling blood backwards.
"GIVE ME BACK MY DAUGHTER! NNNOOOO!"
Michael slid backwards into the Tear, and time itself slowed down. Booker grabbed the baby with both hands, but his fingers slipped from the blood, and the baby slid away… With a tearful grimace, Anna reached for her father. Booker leaned into the Tear, grabbing Anna's tiny arm in a last attempt to save her. As the Tear closed, Booker pulled Anna out.
Or what was left of her.
All the skin, even the scalp with the hair still attached, hung from Booker's hand, dripping blood, empty eye sockets staring.
He breathed hard. His heart and guts swam to his throat. He breathed harder and harder, shaking. His bones and tendons, stiff, his skin frozen. All that was left of Anna, was her blood leaking through his fingers, and her skin, all in one piece.
"Anna…" he quivered, then he fell, convulsing into a fetal position against the pavement. Booker screamed. Such grief afflicted him that he could barely breathe. He just wanted to die.
No matter how tightly his eyelids were shut, he could not stop the tears from trickling. After feeling more static and tuning, Booker found himself in his old apartment, now dilapidated. Even the piles of empty alcohol bottles remained. Outside the cracked window, Booker could hear the echoes of rattling chains.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry..."
He heard Elizabeth humming a peculiar song, tempo up, as if humming in desperation. Booker opened his hot, wet eyes. He no longer had Anna's skin. He felt old, weak, pathetic, useless, worthless, for his failure. There were no words, and no thoughts, for this nightmare.
"Time and time again, for twenty years, you would drink yourself nearly to death, wanting to forget what happened, and what would happen," Spirry growled as he walked along the floor, which creaked and split under his weight. His wings rubbed against the ceiling, while his tail dragged along the floor, smearing blood everywhere. Booker saw blood pool and drip in-between the boards, Elizabeth's humming making everything even more unnerving.
Spirry clasped his hands behind his back, and stood next to Booker. The monster's heavy breathing and audible heartbeat, the sound of dripping blood, and Elizabeth's humming, nearly drove Booker crazy.
"But then, incredibly...you sent yourself back...one last chance to begin again, and forget everything. Although you did not finish your destiny, it still affected the past, present and future, the last seed still growing, creating new constances and variables. But what makes you so special that you were the catalyst to so many worlds in the first place?"
Spirry asked a good question, but Booker did not have the answer.
Elizabeth finished humming her song. Booker looked at her feet, a puddle of blood already forming under the skinless silhouette. He could not stare her in the face. It would be his nightmares incarnate.
Booker heard something he never heard in a long time. A guitar? His blurry vision made out a man sitting on a chair, facing away, holding a guitar and strumming once in a while while playing a simple melody. The guitar was out of tune.
"Tell him the Luteces solved the Cipher," the guitarist said, having Booker's exact voice. Booker was rather confused.
"What?" Booker whispered, confused.
"Time is running out, Dutchman," Spirry warned. "Once The Rapture Family engages combat against Michael, he will win. If Eleanor dies before I am born again, everything you have seen will happen."
"Wait, how...how does all this work? The Vox, Eleanor, Michael...back then?"
"Don't you see, Booker?" Elizabeth asked with her raspy, gurgly voice, "it's not just old and new memories. It's also the future, again and again."
"But how?" he asked as he picked himself up.
"ADAM is the canvas of genetic modification, Dutchman. If the laws of the universe follow biology, and Elizabeth herself contains that protocol in her… Then applying ADAM to the laws of physics creates a canvas," Spirry explained.
"I...don't even know what the means… The Vox...they bombarded everything. Why? Did Daisy decide to become Elizabeth?"
"She sure has my bodily proportions," Elizabeth remarked quietly.
The guitarist continued playing his instrument, though Spirry did not react to that.
"Well, where are the Vox zeppelins now, Dutchman?" Spirry asked almost playfully.
"They're...flying towards Rapture," Booker answered.
"They won't survive," Spirry assured.
"Then...then how did the zeppelins come back?" Booker asked.
"They were commandeered by Michael's servants," Spirry answered. "Only you will survive Rapture if Michael wins today. Incredibly, you will find a way back, and restart everything, but... Michael will then change the past and future, forming it into a single constance. And then… What you have seen, has been. What you have seen, will be. What's done is done. What's done, will be done."
"And Michael will have created his own canvas," Elizabeth finished.
"Then we have to kill him!"
Spirry nodded. A faint yellowish aura appeared in Spirry's eye sockets, and Booker felt it. His nose bled again.
"Tell him the Luteces solved the Cipher," the guitarist repeated. Still, Spirry did not react; he stared at Booker while the yellow aura gradually amplified. Booker's head started to hurt. He looked back at the guitarist, who continued strumming.
"He'll only help you temporarily. Do you really think he'll just pick up and leave?" the guitarist asked. "He's still a sadomasochistic monster. That won't change, no matter what version of him you're dealing with. So, for the last time...tell him that the Luteces solved the Cipher. Tell him that before he goes into your head for good."
"Take him back, girl, before it's too late," Spirry instructed Elizabeth, then he took a breath, about to say something else.
"The Luteces...they solved the Cipher," Booker interrupted.
Spirry looked back at Booker and cocked his head. The auras in his eyes faded away, and the pain left Booker's brains.
"Tell him the Luteces remade the Cipher as two medallions," the guitarist instructed.
"Uh-uhh...th-th-the Luteces...they remade the Cipher as two medallions!"
Spirry cocked his head the other direction. He still did not react to the guitarist.
"Tell him Eleanor has both the medallions."
"Eleanor...she has both medallions."
"Did Eleanor tell you this?" Spirry asked.
"When Eleanor bonded with The Thinker, it allowed her to resist his mental projection," the guitarist instructed.
"When Eleanor bonded with The Thinker, it allowed her to resist your mental projection."
Spirry softly growled, as if in deep thought.
"This was how she could tell you things without Spirry knowing, to prevent Michael from also knowing." The guitarist strummed.
"This was how she could tell me things without you knowing, so that Michael also wouldn't know."
"Hmm...peculiar...that would also explain why I cannot read her mind very well anymore." Spirry looked at Elizabeth, then back at Booker. "So it's not you after all. I expected the Cipher to be destroyed by now, especially since Eleanor already knew about it. Very well. The circle will remain unbroken for a while longer, I think..." Spirry tossed something shiny at Elizabeth. It looked like a reflective disc—a mirror—which she caught. "Take him back, before Michael realizes you escaped. There is no time left."
She nodded, and opened a Tear. Spirry disappeared by some other means, much of his blood left mid-air before splashing on the floor. Then, she closed the Tear. She looked at the thing in her hands, and caused it to phase out of reality.
Booker looked at where the guitarist sat, but he wasn't there anymore. He then looked at where Elizabeth once stood, but she was elsewhere. She now stood in front of the door, back leaning against the door, arms crossed, the light passing through the glass slightly illuminating her silhouette's edges. Guts churning, Booker got up, breathing slowly. He really didn't want to look at…Anna. He broke. The tears came back, his chest tightened, the sounds of echoing rips flooded his mind.
"I'm...sorry. I'm sorry, Anna, I'm... I'm so sorry…" Booker's head dropped. Hot tears dripped from his face.
"Booker, I…" Anna hesitated, then took a slow breath. "I-I… I just want my dad to look at me...without seeing a monster." Booker did not look up. He felt Anna's hand touch his chin, her fingers warm, wet. "And I want to look at my dad…" she whimpered, then sniffled, "without seeing a monster."
Blue eyes. They were still so blue…
The dainty thing gently placed a hand on Booker's cheek, and smiled weakly, eyes as shiny as her flesh. They hugged tightly, feeling each other's heartbeat.
"When the nightmare ends...there won't be any more monsters, right?" she softly whispered.
"They'll be gone, Anna...all of them…and we'll be together..."
Booker soon felt a bit cold. He opened his eyes, and realized he no longer embraced Anna. He stood alone in the flesh-covered hallway of Fontaine Futuristics, again. He sighed.
"I'm gonna find that son of a bitch...and rip his bloody heart out!" he growled as he reloaded his Hand Cannons.
Just as he was about to walk, he then noticed something on the floor. A present? He knelt, undoing the ribbon and opening the box. Inside was a spiral-shaped bottle, with orange and blue lines swirling around. The liquid glowed, pulsating blue and orange. Next to the bottle was a note, which Booker took. The note read: To: Booker. From: AD
Warmth flooded Booker's chest. He picked up the bottle, unscrewed the top, and drank. He dropped the bottle and raised his hands from the discomfort and pain. His shields lit up, travelling into his veins, where his blood glowed blue.
His bones and tendons felt like they wanted to burst through his skin. He heard his bones and tendons pop, and then, his eyes erupted with blueness. Once the effect ended, he exhaled, and wondered what to do. He saw his shields reappear around his left hand, extending into a twisting spike of some sort.
Booker walked quickly and angrily, still a little shaky from anger and grief. Having hugged Anna, he was covered with her blood down his front, he looked like a killer from a horror film. It was not long until he stumbled upon trouble.
From behind a door, he overheard a few Splicers mumbling about heading to Persephone, but then they started screaming. Soon, the sounds of growls, ripping and chewing echoed, and the Splicers were silent.
"Hrmm."
Booker just kicked the door open with such force they slammed against the walls. Three fleshy monsters lifted their hands, guts and torn flesh stretching from the bodies of Splicers. The monsters crawled forth while hissing. Booker's shields expanded violently, hurling the three fleshy monsters off their feet.
Booker leapt upon one with a growl, his shields extending into a spiralling spike from his left arm, which he drove into a fleshy monster. The Vigor caused this section of spiralling shields to drill into the fleshy monster, then expand while inside it. The monster's ribs and spine cracked aloud, and blood erupted from its sundered chest.
The two other beasts went on all fours and swiped their paws. Booker's shields protracted, and struck into the incoming limbs. He withdrew both Hand Cannons and fired into their skulls, and after each shot, pistol whipped the beasts in their mouths, splitting teeth.
One fell onto a knee, hissing while clutching its forehead full of holes. The other headbutted Booker, but she shields withstood most impact, and he only staggered. He cast Shock Jockey, which affected both fleshy monsters. Booker rammed his Hand Cannons in either of the beasts' mouths, and fired both at the same time. Spinal cords severed below the brain, both fleshy monsters flopped over limply. As his shields regenerated, Booker felt his Salts regenerate, too.
Booker's search continued, guns holstered. He came upon a hallway with a thick, globby layer of Enaedonai everywhere, and he could see skinless, bloated bodies stuck within the fleshy walls and ceiling here and there. Most of the merged bodies were missing half of themselves, as if they had squished against the surface or were being absorbed by it. A few of the bodies breathed softly, a few others weakly moved a little.
Not to his surprise, Booker heard fleshy and squishy noises. The Enaedonai shivered, and sections burst out bloodily, fleshy arms protruding and clawing at him. His shields withstood their attacks, then his hands projected some of his shields as twisting spikes, ripping apart the arms in his way. He also cast Bucking Bronco, raising the arms then unleashing Murderous Crows upon them, feathery buggers splitting the arms apart.
The bodies in the walls and ceiling shook and breathed harder. Some of their bellies burst open, root-like guts slithering out and spitting Polyps at Booker. His shields blocked the Polyps, and he retaliated with Devil's Kiss. Soon, everything fleshy and moving around him was dead or writhing while crispy. He moved on, leaving behind a few Devil's Kiss traps. Again, as Booker's shields regenerated, so did his Salts.
As Booker went on, he occasionally crossed paths with Splicers or fleshy monsters, but his regenerating Salts and weaponized Shields allowed him to overcome his foes easily enough. Then, something different happened. A Tear appear, this one red and leaking blood around the edges. Some sort of immense serpentine, fleshy beast with a huge jaw shot through the Tear, hissing with such force blood gushed out its mouth. The snake did not have skin, but had big teeth and glowing yellow eyes.
"Oh, shit!" Booker cursed as the snake slithered at him, mouth agape. His new Vigor went into action, and he felt it charge up in his arm.
The serpent lunged with greater speed, smashing its head into Booker's shields and staggering him; he hurled a whip-like effect of his shields but it hit the ceiling. The serpentine fleshy monster then snapped its jaws sideways, and although its mandibles did not pierce Booker's shields, they did clamp around his legs.
Rearing, the serpent pulled Booker off his feet, then dragged backwards towards the Tear. Booker threw Possession at the monster, the green ghost lady affecting the serpent and giving it a green aura. The serpent let go of Booker and shook its head vigorously, hissing fiercely.
Mr. DeWitt got up and threw a Shock Jockey trap into the serpent's face where it stuck too. After a couple seconds, the Possession effect wore-off, but the electrical trap erupted. While the serpent was electrocuted, Booker withdrew his Hand Cannons and opened fire. To his surprise, the bullets bounced off the beast, leaving leaving holes.
"Damn, that thing is really tough!" He had another surprise. The serpent howled, opening its mouth while blasting a torrent of blood out its mouth. The gushing blood hit Booker and threw him against the wall. He had yet another surprise; the serpent inhaled, reared, then exhaled a mighty stream of Winter Blast 3.
Booker blasted Bucking Bronco downwards, hurling himself away as everything behind him froze. The serpent turned its head after Booker, its Winter Blast still gushing. Booker braced himself after landing, his shields extending into a wall and blocking the incoming freezing. He took this chance to run away, hurling Devil's Kiss over his shields.
Booker charged through some doors, hearing the serpent sliding down the hallway. He looked around, and decided to head up a set of L shaped stairs going up the building, lowers levels flooded. The serpent burst through the door, then twisted around the stairwell as it went after Booker. He threw another Possession at the serpent, confusing it, then ran up the stairwell while leaving behind fiery and electrical Vigor traps, which did their work once the serpent regained its senses.
Greatly angered, the serpent howled, coiling around the stairs, then shaking it. Booker lost his footing, and knew the beast would soon break the stairs. He got an idea, and his shields extended into a thread, terminating into a large ball on the wall. Booker grasped his Sky-Hook and, sure enough, felt it catch the magnetic force of the large ball-end of his shields.
With a tug, and a grunt, Booker was sent flying off the stairs just as the serpent ripped it down, the lower section of stairs crashed into the waters below. Booker's Sky-Hook latched onto the magnetic ball-end of his shields, and while latched to the wall, he unleashed Murderous Crows upon the serpent, which kept it quite busy as it thrashed about hissing.
Booker's extended shields flailed him through the air, but his Sky-Hook remained attached to it. He ended up catching the unbroken section of stairs, hearing it creak and bend, but it did not snap. While his shields returned to normal, Booker pulled himself up, hearing the serpent lift itself after him.
Spinning around, Booker threw Devil's Kiss into the serpent's mouth. He continued throwing Devil's Kiss, until the damn thing's fleshy, moist exterior evaporated, the flesh searched, smoked, and caught on fire. Screeching, the serpent writhed downwards, slithering down into the waters below to quench itself.
Booker threw a Possession trap down below, then went up the stairs, putting his Sky-Hook away. He entered the next floor and looked around, but saw nothing new. He ran down the hallway and burst through double doors, then realized he was surrounded by perhaps twenty fleshy monsters, all of them standing upright and staring at him.
Silence. Booker did nothing, and the beasts just stared at him with their eyeless skulls.
"Alright...who's next?" Booker asked, then heard rattling machinery.
"I am," a hoarse, hollow voice replied. Emerging from behind the fleshy monsters was another one, but different.
This one was smaller and not as muscular, but had cheeks, lips, blue eyes, and long blond hair. Various mechanical lengths, similar to skyborne machinery but much smaller, were connected to the tendons at the back of his hand, but also along his spinal cord, giving him the appearance of a grotesque puppet. The mechanical lengths came down from a Tear-like aura always floating above him.
The grotesque puppet walked towards Booker as if his joints were about to snap, arms raised halfway, as if wanting to crawl. The puppet often cocked his head side to side, neck popping repeatedly, and never broke eye contact with Booker. The puppet stood before Booker, eyelid-less eyes gazing through him.
"Well, what?" Booker asked.
"You came, just as Tongue said you would."
It took Booker a couple seconds to remember who Tongue was. The grotesque thing before Booker was Videre.
"He told me I'd find you, somehow."
"Likewise. He must have wanted you to see me, because he could not explain things very well. Ahh... You must be the one who split reality fifty-six years ago. At long last, it is time to end this concatenation. Follow me." The puppet turned, Booker quite confused. The fleshy monsters kept staring at him nearly motionlessly.
"Huh, what? Wait! What does that mean?" Booker asked, stepping forth and grabbing the puppet's shoulder. He turned.
"Mikha'el created synchrony, so that all realities occur in a time-scale. This will link all events in the synchronized series...concatenation. The circle will finally be broken, and a new reality will emerge. But who will break the circle? Mikha'el or you? Or perhaps someone else? Only one who has already broken the rules can do this."
"Wait, I think I've heard…" The choir's song came to Booker's mind. "What is this unbroken circle?"
"All reality flows like a circle. There is no true beginning, no true end. It is cyclic. An end...the end of all realities...simply leads to a new beginning. This is eternal. We will break the mirror, come." Videre turned.
"Mirror? What mirror?"
"I will take you down to it. There is no time left. We must go, before Mikha'el or Black Sun break the mirror, and all will be lost for us." Videre walked, Booker and the fleshy monsters followed. He looked back at them, but they remained unaggressive.
"Black Sun? Those guys from the other world?"
"Yes. They wish not to end Mikha'el's creation, Ainigma...they wish to take control her. Black Sun destroyed many realities to get this far. You must break the circle first."
"I-ughh...none of this makes any sense... Why does it matter who breaks this circle?"
"When the circle is broken, the sundering takes the intent of its destroyer, or so this is what I speculate. What happens afterward… God only knows."
"I don't believe in God."
"You don't have to. Creation and eternity will always exist. We are so close…"
Booker followed Videre down various hallways and passageways, the other fleshy monsters going with them. The serpent did not return.
"Will...will I be able to find Michael?" Booker asked.
"Yes, but you cannot kill him. Only those who open Tears can destroy him."
"As long as that son of a bitch dies...that's all that matters. But why are you helping me, Videre?"
"Look at us. Don't you see? None of us want to keep on going."
They came upon a window overlooking Persephone. Booker saw the aurora borealis-like effect beaming out the trench beyond the penal colony. The base was very white and bright, almost like a giant mirror.
Further on, a section of window was broken, and connecting onto the hole, a giant intestine. The flesh-cave led down, down, down…
"Go. We will meet again underwater." Videre gestured to the oversized organ as it breathed.
"I've had enough of flesh-passages for a lifetime." Nevertheless, the image of Michael, and what he did…
Booker would take all the suffering in him, and convert it into rage.
"So... Rapture has its own mysterious basement," Eleanor remarked while shuffling through blood-soaked papers on Mother's desk. Her helmet was on the floor.
Sofia had finished her speech in the microphone, her office dripping faintly glowing blood almost everywhere.
The Elizabeths, Porter, Tenenbaum, and the lieutenant also looked through papers to have an idea of what was they would do, whilst Cindy played atop Mother's desk (much to Sofia's annoyance). Everyone else remained outside the office keep and eye out.
"Hm? You found something?" the lieutenant asked. Eleanor lifted some papers and blueprints about Rapture's infrastructure and subterranea.
"Yes. The Sinker is probably what will allow us to enter the Luminescent Biomass," Eleanor answered.
"The Luminescent Biomass? I never thought of it much," Porter admitted.
"It think it is what caused the Sea Slugs' mutations," Tenenbaum said.
"Know anything else about it?" Eleanor asked, but Tenenbaum shook her head.
"Nobody really talked about it much, let alone explored it," Porter said. "Most people just called it northern lights and left it at that."
Eleanor noticed Mother was quiet, rather frowning at Cindy as she played in her imaginary world. Nevertheless, Eleanor became suspicious.
"Mother..." Eleanor said, grabbing Sofia's shoulder and turning her, the two face-to-face. "In the cathedral, when we first met Michael… You mentioned those robed fanatics self-mutilated themselves. How did you know?" Mother almost looked irritated.
"Ask yourself," Sofia bluntly replied. "Am I not educated on social psychiatry?"
"If you know something, just fuckin' say it," Pinkerton Elizabeth spat.
"You shouldn't waste any more time. My men are in danger," the lieutenant said.
"All I know are people, and what they want. I observed, I concluded."
"Even with that education, you made quite the conclusion." Eleanor frowned, but Mother did not continue. She knows something about all this...
"You still are not my child."
"Well, at least you're a bit better than you used to be, Mother. You had to lose me for that. A lesson you will never forget."
"Oh-whoa!" Cindy squeaked, falling off the desk, but old Elizabeth caught her.
"Good catch," blue Elizabeth said.
"Be careful, you," the old gal warned softly.
Porter's radio cracked to life.
"Is the new Plasmid ready?" Zachary's voice asked through the radio.
Porter got his radio.
"Eleanor easily found a Gene Bank. She also helped herself to the Gatherer's Garden with a plethora of other Plasmids. She tested our prototype Plasmid especially in Sofia's office. The fleshy biomass disintegrated within a minute, leaving behind only blood."
"I can still smell the roses," Eleanor remarked.
"Burning or freezing should also temporarily destroy the fleshy biomass," Porter butted in.
"Good, because those flesh-golems and Michael's fanatics are back. Daisy already took her men and are confronting them." Zachary said. Distant gunfire sounded in the radio. "How about our next clue? What do we do now?"
"It seems we'll be taking my bathysphere down to The Sinker, the subfloor of Rapture, so to speak. Although parts of Rapture collapsed into the trench, oddly enough, many sections are also back. Eleanor believes it is the work of Michael and these...Tears…which I once criticized the Luteces for being mumbo-jumbo."
"And you can sure bet he's coming after us," Pinkerton Elizabeth commented.
"Since that Big Sister delivered a letter from Rapture with Michael's name on it, I speculate he predicted our arrival. He probably setup a trap for us, too. Watch that Big Sister carefully, just in case she takes orders from him," Eleanor warned.
"Will do," Zachary assured. "No time for talking, I gotta get into the action. Stay safe Sofia, I love you." The Big Sister's scream and guttural roars sounded through the radio before Zachary turned his radio off.
Sofia leaned into her intercom and turned it on.
"The Rapture Family is to rendezvous at Inner Persephone. You will find monsters both huge and horrible, and robed individuals with elongated arms and legs. You will know what to do."
"Let's go," Eleanor said as she put her helmet back on.
They began their walk. The lieutenant radioed his men, telling them the plans.
After going down various passages and an elevator or two, they reached Outer Persephone uninterrupted, Enaedonai everywhere, of course. The further down they went, the thicker Enaedonai grew, with hearts visibly and audibly beating on them.
The walk towards Inner Persephone had a little more action, as the group occasionally stumbled upon fleshy monsters, but Eleanor, now equipped with additional Plasmids, held them off without much trouble. She utilized Gravity Well, Incinerate, Decoy and Hypnotize amidst her Big Sister Plasmids, to great effect with everyone's guns.
Other times, skinless limbs would erupt through the Enaedonai, but Eleanor's telekinesis gripped them, or she Winter Blasted them, allowing them to be shot or shattered. Eleanor felt quite good about everything. But memories of her and Father going to Inner Persephone rushed her mind. Sadness enveloped her.
I wish you could be with me again…
Echoes of gunfire snapped Eleanor out of her thinking, visor turning yellow. She teleported forth into the centre of Inner Persephone, where Father stood his ground against The Rapture Family long ago. The windows overlooking the trench revealed the Luminescent Biomass, and occasionally a heart or brain swimming through the waters.
Eleanor quickly scanned the area as bullets whizzed everywhere. She saw Splicers all over the place, firing and shouting haphazardly as fleshy monsters tackled into them and ripped them apart.
Most regular Splicers were just dead meat, but a few Brutes treated the fleshy monsters as meaty punching bags, exchanging mighty blows that would quickly kill most. The Brutes even grabbed and lifted fleshy monsters and slammed them headfirst into the floor. Although impressive, not even the Brutes would last long against the sheer numbers of fleshy monsters. There were at least a few dozen of them, clawing and jumping over each other so eager they were to kill.
The Brutes, Houdini Splicers and Crawlers would keep a portion of fleshy monsters busy for a while, but it was quite obvious there was no easy way through the chaos. Everyone would have to fight their way to the elevator to reach Porter's bathysphere. Visor red, Eleanor joined the fight, hurling Plasmids like crazy.
Sofia and the others remained defensive, the Elizabeths summing three Motorized Patriots to get into the fray and begin clearing a path. Crank guns ripped open a score of fleshy monsters, allowing the others to gradually go forwards, but the fighting was still fierce and hectic.
In no time, Eleanor was surrounded by fleshy monsters, some gunned down by Motorized Patriots, who charged and were about to engage in the melee. But, there were enough fleshy monsters remaining to threaten her.
"Alright, Porter, this Plasmid better work…" Eleanor charged up her new Plasmid, her hands dripping with steaming, boiling ADAM. She unleashed a wave upon the fleshy monsters, and their flesh bubbled and started to melt. They made high-pitched gurgling but lunged at Eleanor anyways. She erupted with an anti-gravitational blast, gurling the fleshy monsters away, their bodies become gelatinous and gooping apart. "Ow! That took a bit of ADAM out of me! This will take a while to recharge…"
Meanwhile, the Vox, Zachary and the marines were up on the mezzanine, keeping a defensive position while the Vox Beasts and Fireman bombarded the enemies. Once they ran out of rocket,s the Beasts used their shotguns, clubbing with them as well. The Zealot constantly teleported about while sending Murderous Crows and slicing and dicing with his chipped, slightly bent, sword, damaged from overuse.
Zachary had grabbed one of the fallen fanatics' swords, fighting with it in his right hand, and revolver in the other. He parried and attacked with both weapons like the devil himself, arms and heads flopping mid-air all around him. Amidst the frenzy, he noticed some fanatics crawling up the walls and ceiling, jumping onto Crawler Splicers, and pairs of them fell while clawing at each other.
"Burn! Burn! BURRRNNN!" The Fireman seemed angrily focused, swords and claws unable to bypass his or the Beasts' armours. His use of Devil's Kiss put quite a few fanatics on fire, while the Zealot kept blasting Murderous Crows about. The Zealot, having a free hand, picked up a sword to fight with two.
Eleanor teleported to the mezzanine. She spun around to check on Zachary and the Vox, who were charged by Michael's spider-like robed fanatics. Zachary threw a Possession trap, forcing a score of fanatics to turn on their own, but they were nonetheless chopped apart by the charging horde.
Some of Michael's servants unleashed Murderous Crows, attacking both fleshy monsters and humans, Zachary's shields lighting up, Daisy and the marines swinging their guns about to bat the damn things away. The Zealot was unaffected by the fanatics' Murderous Crows, but they were not immune to his own. The Fireman and Vox Beasts, being armoured, were only distracted by the Murderous Crows.
Eleanor knew she had to take out the fanatics equipped with Murder of Crows first, seeing the Big Sister tackle into one, pick him up over her shoulder, and threw him over the mezzanine. Eleanor charged them, ramming her needle into one, engulfing another in flames, and then sending a score of others into the air with a Cyclone Trap. She and the Big Sister put many more fanatics and fleshy monsters on fire, but both kinds of foes were relentless, attacking even when on fire. Eleanor parried a sword with her needle then stomped on the fanatic's knee, snapping it backwards, then she headbutted her helm into his face, cracking it open. A stomp to the throat broke his trachea.
"Keep on coming! Make it last! I'll find Michael no matter what you do!" Eleanor exclaimed.
She was a bit surprised to find that the fleshy monsters and fanatics targeted each other with greater frequency than anyone else. With their long limbs, the fanatics chopped open the fleshy monsters deeply, sometimes hacking off fingers, but their aggression led them to their dooms. The meat-monsters were just too big and too strong to face up close, even while being pecked apart by Murderous Crows, filled with bullets, and blackened from fire. Their growls and screeches were deafening.
Eleanor cast a Gravity Well up above her companions, sucking a number of hostile crows up. She, Zachary and the Big Sister bombarded the fanatics with Plasmids, but they just kept pouring out their Tears.
Amidst the chaos of Murderous Crows, Eleanor's heart sank when she saw one marine have his head and arms chopped off by fanatics, and another bit over the head by a fleshy monster who wrenched the neck and cracked it before being gunned down. Zachary threw Old Man Winter and froze some foes, giving Eleanor an idea.
Eleanor teleported behind one of the shadow Tears, and unleashed Winter Blast 3 through both hands into the Tear. Gradually, the ice built up until the Tear was clogged with ice.
"Good idea!" Zachary yelled, throwing an Old Man Winter trap into a Tear. While provided covering fire by the marines and Vox, Zachary and Eleanor managed to seal the Tears with ice. The remaining fanatics were killed, their corpses littering the floor.
With the shadow Tears icebound, most enemies in the mezzanine were soon dead or dying, the marines and Vox ran to the railings to fire down upon the enemy below. However, it was not long until more Tears opened, and more of Michael's servants ran out, forcing everyone to shoot at them. The Big Sister cast a gravitational ring and hurled several fanatics off, while Eleanor and the Fireman used their Plasmids against many others. The Zealot engaged in some sword fighting, blocking incoming blades then unleashing Murderous Crows point blank.
Eleanor teleported down below to check on Porter and the others. She cast a few Gravity Wells to disrupt fleshy monsters, saving two Brutes from being swarmed, while a few Houdini Splicers teleported around throwing fireballs, but they were soon tackled by fleshy monsters and torn up.
"Get to the elevator! Run!" Eleanor shouted, casting more Plasmids to keep the fleshy monsters busy.
The Brutes saw Sofia with the others, and recognizing her, they did not fight the humans, only the fleshy monsters. Both remaining Brutes were ripped open quite badly by the monsters' claws, but they fought regardless.
"Make way for Lamb!" one of the Brutes yelled, grabbing a fleshy monster mid-air, who had aimed for Sofia. The brute slammed the monster face-first into the floor, then threw punches into the others around him. By the looks of it, all the regular Splicers were dead by now, but a few Houdinis continued teleporting about and evading their pursuers.
While the Patriots' Crank Guns unleashed a mighty torrent of bullets, Sofia and the others headed for the stairs, literally walking over dead and dying fleshy monsters and the chunks of Splicers.
"Keep your eyes closed, baby!" old Elizabeth told Cindy, carrying her over the gore. Cindy put one hand over Little Daddy's face.
"Dammit! Fall back!" the lieutenant shouted as perhaps twenty fleshy monsters crawled down the walls.
The fleshy monsters swarmed the Brutes and Patriots, bringing them down and gradually ripping them open. The Brutes screamed, but kept wrestling. One by one, the Patriots phased out of reality after sustaining too much damage, whilst the Brutes threw fleshy monsters off and continued fighting, but they were just swamped again, and the Brutes screamed again as more claws and teeth dug into them.
Eleanor cast Porter's new Plasmid again, affecting a score of fleshy monsters, who began melting. They charged her, and she danced around their claws and teeth, keeping them busy as they fell apart.
A fleshy monster who bypassed Eleanor's Plasmid and the Brutes managed to charge the group from the side. Porter turned to the side, firing his shotgun repeatedly, but the fleshy monster just kept coming. The lieutenant emptied his clip into the monster's head, the Elizabeths, Tenenbaum and Sofia firing their pistols at it, the combined firepower severely slowing it down. Porter rammed his shotgun into the monster's skull and blow the top off of it off, dashing blood all over his front, but the damn thing was finally dead.
"Is there no end to this!?" Tenenbaum yelled, then she, Sofia and the Elizabeths were charged by several fleshy monsters. Tenenbaum, being the autistic goose she was, could barely aim a pistol, and Sofia couldn't do anything, either. The Elizabeths fired their pistols, but they did little. The Pinkerton did shoot one monster's in the mouth, blasting off a few teeth.
"Get back!" the lieutenant barked, standing in the way of the beasts and firing at them, but he was promptly trampled and the monsters continued running.
The ladies had no choice but to run away, firing back at their pursuers, Eleanor unable to stop them as she was preoccupied with her foes, one of which she rammed her needle through, lifted, then slammed into the wall.
"Oo-wahh!" blue Elizabeth wheezed, dropping her pistol from fright. She just gasped, covered her head, and fell down as a fleshy monster dove at her. That was when someone jumped over her, driving a glowing yellow spike into the monster's head, which then exploded, splatting blood and brains everywhere. It was Booker, his shields expanding and blocking the other fleshy monsters, staggering them.
He stepped through his own shields, which did not affect him, armed with just his Sky-Hook, which had his shield's aura. Booker rammed the fucking thing into a fleshy monster's sternum, his shields protecting him from the monster's claws and teeth. Empowered by his new Vigor, the rotaries of the Sky-Hook spun with greater speed and power, so much that Booker's arm shook. The device rammed into the fleshy monster's sternum and chewed it apart as if a chainsaw. In fact, the Sky-Hook dug so deep into the beast's body, Booker's arm shot into the torso.
The other fleshy monsters, while sustaining fire from the lieutenant and the Pinkerton, attacked Booker, but his shields drove into them and staggered them. Booker rammed a Devil's Kiss trap into one monster's mouth, and then drove his Sky-Hook into another's teeth, and started grinding the top off of its head off. The Devil's Kiss trap exploded, flames flowing out the monster's mouth, and it fell over writhing, burning inside out.
Booker threw a Possession trap, which triggered, affecting some fleshy monsters who ran off to fight other fleshy monsters.
"Good timing, Mr. DeWitt!" the Pinkerton exclaimed, putting her back to the wall to let the Possessed fleshy monsters pass her.
Blue Elizabeth remained on the floor, rather shaky.
"I think I pissed myself a little…" she whispered to herself. Booker helped her up. "Where'd you get that new Vigor?"
"From Anna." Booker's answer caused Elizabeth to raise an eyebrow. "Where's Michael? We need to rip that bastard's heart out."
"I have not seen him," Eleanor replied.
Meanwhile, the two Brutes who remained pulled through, pummeling their fleshy foes into bloody pulps, but bleeding everywhere from claws and teeth. Even when partly incapacitated, fleshy monsters continued swiping their claws. Quite angry, the Brutes continued beating the fleshy monsters, looking for the wounded or dying, more than glad to beat them to death while cussing. A few Houdini Splicers reappeared, throwing Plasmids at the dying and injured monsters as well.
The Possessed fleshy monsters sprinted past the Splicers, Houdinis throwing Plasmids at them and a Brute throwing a chunk of concrete, but the Possessed ignored them.
Eleanor teleported back up to help Zachary continue covering the Tears with ice, whilst the others and the Possessed finished off the remaining fanatics and fleshy monsters. The statues of ice were shattered, too. Once all foes were dead, each Possessed fleshy monster seemed bewildered. Eleanor observed one curl its fingers underneath its ribs, until it pushed its hands upwards underneath its rib cage. Grunting and growling amidst struggle, the beast literally ripped both halves of its rib cage out and spread them open. The other Possessed fleshy monsters did likewise once Possession wore off. They remained standing until blood loss and suffocation caused them to lose consciousness.
"Those things...are beyond sick," Daisy remarked as he wiped blood off her face, though her clothes were drenched.
"Okay, I think the coast is clear," blue Elizabeth said. Her group went forth, trying to find flooring between the corpses.
All at the same time, the Elizabeths looked at the window, and saw something big swim to the glass. The young Elizabeths' mouths opened.
"Songbird!?" the two younger Elizabeths exclaimed at the same time. Songbird placed his hand and head on the glass, taking a look inside, eyes beaming whiteness. Songbird was rather different. He was decorated with barnacles and rusty. Oddly enough, Songbird had a white aura, his body rather shadowy, and his presence produced constant distorted static and tuning sounds, quite loud and painful to listen to.
"What is that?" the lieutenant and Porter asked at the same time.
"Looks like something Suchong would make!" Tenenbaum remarked.
A bubbly howl sounded. Songbird turned and swam off. The black entity went after him, wing scraping against the glass. Songbird swam off, the black entity chasing him.
"And what is that?" the lieutenant asked, the Vox running to the railings at the mezzanine.
"Big Angel!" Cindy exclaimed.
"A monster. That's all you need to know," the Pinkerton answered.
Songbird swam towards the glass again, then stopped. It checked through the glass again, as if surprised. He turned his head, and to the Elizabeths' surprise, Songbird opened a very big Tear. The black entity rammed into Songbird, both disappearing in the Tear, which closed.
"Songbird can now open Tears?" old Elizabeth asked, amazed.
"I...guess so…" the Pinkerton remarked.
Everyone regrouped at the mezzanine. Daisy, Zachary, the Zealot, and the marines were shredded open pretty bad, but alive. The armoured combatants were also covered with blood.
The lieutenant ran to his men to see who survived.
Behind the masses of ice blocking the Tears, fanatics chipped away at the ice with their swords.
"Let's try to close these Tears!" blue Elizabeth exclaimed, so the two younger Elizabeths ran forth to do just that.
It was not long until howling echoed from Outer Persephone. The Big Sister's visor went yellow, and she ran off, teleporting somewhere.
"More are comin'," a Beast commented.
Sofia walked to the mezzanine and overlooked the Splicers below. Several new Splicers appeared, talking incoherently about seeing Lamb. Well, they saw their leader and were quite enthralled by her presence alone.
"Further intruders invade the Family. Keep them away. I will head to the heart of their great chain, and cast them into the dark." The Splicers were in awe. They headed for Outer Persephone to face the next incoming horde, a suicide mission for sure.
"Baxter, Wallace, watch our six!" the lieutenant barked while he and the other marines ran to the elevator, everyone else following, Eleanor behind the lieutenant. Her senses stung by static and tuning noises, distracting her.
The elevator doors opened, someone inside stepping through and placing his hands on the lieutenant's and a marine's head. Eleanor hesitated when she saw the lieutenant and the marine beside him suddenly have frozen heads. The man smashed the heads together, both frozen skulls shattering.
"Going somewhere?" Michael asked, the Big Sisters' helmets going red. The few other marines near Eleanor opened fire, bullets thudding against Michael, but he remained standing. He extended his arms, a gravitational wave erupting around him and blasting everyone off their feet.
Landing on their backs hard, Booker, the Fireman and Zachary threw Devil's Kiss at Michael, nearly hitting the marines due to lack of space. Michael burst into flames but made no reaction, his body becoming quite dark yet having a white aura. His eye sockets glowed white. Michael's presence had a constant distorted tuning and static sound.
Michael lifted his chin; a Beast lifted off the floor and hung upside down mid-air, his helmet flying off. Despite floating, the Irish Vox Beast cocked his shotgun and fired at Michael, the few nearby marines also emptying their clips into him, but he kept standing. Michael conjured Old Man Winter, but instead of a ball of dry ice, he formed a large spike. He grabbed the icy spike with both hands and drove it into the Beast's mouth, the spike poking out the back of his neck.
"Oisin!" Daisy yelled as she picked herself up, the dead Vox Beast hitting the floor.
Michael released another gravitational wave just as the Zealot teleported, which hurled everyone else against the ceiling. They dropped like flies, the non-combatants especially hurt. The Zealot reappeared behind Michael, swinging his sword across his neck. The blade passed clean through, Michael's neck cracking and blood spurting out. The sounds of static and tuning intensified, and Michael's head did not roll off his shoulders. His flames also dissipated.
Michael spun around as the Zealot drove his blade through his heart. Michael's hands dripped with embers, and then he received Murderous Crows to the face. He staggered, the Zealot teleporting away before Michael could grab him.
Feeling bullets thud against his back, crows cow, Michael turned around, receiving Devil's Kiss from the Fireman, Eleanor and the Big Sister getting up and hurling fireballs, Booker casting Shock Jockey, Zachary throwing Old Man Winter. Bullets, Plasmids and Vigors simply did nothing against Michael's ghostly frame.
Booker's shields reconfigured, surrounding his body from friendly fire. The front arranged into a large drill, which Booker rammed into Michael's sternum. Michael struck Booker with his palm, a layer of ice freezing over his shields, which exploded, hurling Booker off his feet. Michael jumped, summoning an icy spike which he intended to drive into Booker, but the Fireman dropkicked Michael mid-air, and Michael hit the wall. Zachary then cast Possession.
"Don't insult me!" Michael stated, the green aura dissipating. Zachary threw Old man Winter at Michael, freezing him on the spot. To his surprise, Michael immediately burst through the ice with such force Zachary fell over, shields shattered. While on his back, he aimed his revolver and fired.
Before Michael could attack Zachary again, the Big Sister teleported beside Michael, driving her needle into his side then lifting him off the floor, then began casting fireballs into him with her free hand. While still being shot at from others, Michael grabbed the Big Sister's arm and swung her into the wall, the Big Sister screeching, glass cracking from impact but no water went through yet.
Michael's feet hit the floor, the barrage of bullets, Plasmids and Vigors relentlessly hitting him, yet he himself remained just as relentless. The Elizabeths summoned Motorized Patriots, who charged, firing at Michael at close range, the torrent of three Crank Guns staggering him constantly, yet he remained on his feet.
"Jeez! What does it take to kill this guy!?" Zachary yelled as he reloaded his Smith and Wesson. While Michael fought the Patriots with gravitational blasts and icy formations, everyone else had time to reload and rethink their plan.
The howls and roars of fleshy monsters echoed from below, followed by distant gunfire. The Splicers would not last long.
"How the hell can we kill him!?" Daisy yelled as she finished reloading her carbine, then saw the two younger Elizabeths rather sneakily make their way behind the Patriots as they pummeled Michael.
"Let us get close to him!" the Pinkerton shouted, the Patriots' parts breaking off.
"We need to open two Tears in him!" blue Elizabeth said.
"Don't get close to him! Are you crazy!?" Zachary yelled, he and Booker charging to make sure the Elizabeths didn't get themselves killed.
Michael shouted, unleashing a powerful electromagnetic eruption, which sent the Patriots staggering until they fell, the two Elizabeths evading the lumbering automatons. Michael, who had overexerted himself from his attack, looked side to side as the two Elizabeths charged him. He spread his arms, two Shadow Tears starting to form. The Elizabeths grabbed his arms, his Shadow Tears phasing away, and then two new Tears began to open on him. Michael's body leaked with zaps and sparks. He quickly lunged both hands, striking the two Elizabeths in their big heads, knocking both to the floor, foreheads leaking blood. They were too hurt to get up.
"ELIZABEEETH!" Booker and Zachary yelled at the same time.
"Stop getting in our line of fire!" Daisy complained.
Michael put his hands together, forming a swirling mass of purple energy, and unleashed it at his charging foes in a curving motion. Both Bookers' shields broke, and they both hit the wall. They groaned as they hit the floor. Michael threw another wave of such power as the Bookers picked themselves up, and without shields, they were smashed against the wall again and stunned.
Michael's hands conjured spiky masses of ice, which he aimed at the debilitated Bookers. Eleanor teleported behind Michael, ramming her needle into his lower back, hearing it crack his spine. Immediately, the Big Sister leapt at Michael, driving her needle through his ghostly head. Both needles sucked out Michael's ethereal blood, and his body pulsated with electricity and white rays.
Eleanor threw him over the shoulder and ran off with him, hearing the Big Sister's needle rip out of him. Eleanor threw him over the mezzanine, then jumped off, driving both feet into Michael's throat, a satisfying crunch sounding. Eleanor raised her head, realizing the next wave of fleshy monsters charging!
Eleanor felt Michael grab her legs, so she teleported away. Sitting up, Michael spread his arms, forming two Shadow Tears, each spewing forth a stream of sword-armed fanatics. Michael unleashed a wave of freezing power upon the first rank of fleshy monsters, his fanatics jumping upon the icy statues and attacking the others, some unleashing Murderous Crows. Both sides fought atop bodies, the fallen piling up on each other and gradually forming a hill of corpses and wrestling pairs.
It was not long until the two Big Sisters began throwing fireballs from the mezzanine. Michael turned as he was peppered with fireballs. While Michael's fanatics kept the fleshy monsters busy, he sprinted up the stairs. A Gun Automaton was summoned, blocking his way while shooting at him. He broke through it with an anti-gravitational pull, and continued his charge. Once he reached the top of the stairs, Eleanor drop-kicked him in the chest, and sent him tumbling down the stairs.
Meanwhile, Booker recovered, sitting up and holding his head. He noticed old Elizabeth healing Zachar with various medical things, Cindy standing nearby and watching nervously. The Vox and marines headed for the stairs, Fireman and Zealot casting their Vigors to slow Michael done while the others fired.
"Come on, Booker, stay with me! Please, get up…" the old gal croaked. Zachary groaned and sat up once the raw ADAM kicked in, but his remained disorientated. Old Elizabeth then waddled to her younger counterparts. Blue Elizabeth coughed and sat up, but the Pinkerton looked quite hurt and was unresponsive. "Elizabeth! Child, you there? Get up!"
"Elizabeth!" Booker exclaimed, getting up and running to her. "You okay?"
"Yeah, just dizzy and hurt." She looked at the Pinkerton, "I hope she's alright." That Elizabeth was still out.
A blast of power threw down the marines, Eleanor, Daisy and the Zealot, the armoured Vox only staggering. Michael unleashed an electromagnetic blast, shocking everyone, especially the armoured Vox. Another gravitational eruption hurled everyone away, armoured Vox falling down.
Screaming, the Big Sister grabbed Cindy by the arm and threw her upon her shoulder, then threw fireballs at Michael while keeping her distance.
"Here we go again!" Booker shouted. His shields extended as a lance and hit Michael in the head. Equipping his Sky-Hook, Booker flung himself forth, Sky-Hook following the magnetic path of his extended shields and striking Michael, who staggered. Booker's shields rearranged, becoming chain-like and wrapping around Michael, constricting him while grinding at his ghostly body.
Sky-Hook in one hand, Hand Cannon in the other, Booker struck Michael one after the other at the hapless Michael's head. He then rammed his Sky-Hook sideways into Michael's mouth, rotaries grinding as they ripped through the back of the jaw and neck. Booker felt the rotaries bouncing against Michael's spinal cord, yet his head did not rip off.
Michael freed himself with yet another gravitational blast, shattering Booker's shields and hurling him away. Eleanor charged, diving the top of her helm into Michael's face and staggering him. She then delivered a flurry of punches, every left punch driving her her needle into his body.
Michael suddenly struck Eleanor in the sternum, his palm bursting with ice, and Eleanor froze. Wearing a helmet and suit, she did not feel the cold too much, and simply teleported out her icy tomb just as Michael shattered it with his forceful power. He looked around, and Eleanor reappeared above him, driving her feet into his head, pinning him to the floor.
"Don't give up! Make this last!" Eleanor shouted while repeatedly stabbing the back of Michael's head with her needle. Ghostly blood spurt out due to the needle's suction, but Michael remained very much alive. "Owooff!" A backwards blast of power threw Eleanor off her feet; she landed on her helmet.
Michael got up, as did the Vox and marines, who opened fire. The Bookers, blue Elizabeth, old Elizabeth, Sofia, Tenenbaum, and Porter also opened fire as best they could, everyone forming a half-circle around Michael while his fanatics fought the fleshy monsters below. The intense use of bullets caused Michael to stagger into the railings. One by one, guns clicked; out of ammo. The Big Sister, Eleanor, Fireman, and Zealot continued using their powers against Michael, but he seemed quite resistant to them.
"I'm dry!" a marine yelled once his rifle ran out, he and the others slinging their rifles over the shoulder then withdrawing their Browning Hi Power and firing those.
With assault weapons out of ammo, Michael regained himself, but was slower, is overuse of Plasmids clearly affecting him negatively. Taking the advantage, Zachary threw Old Man Winter and Eleanor cast Winter Blast, both powers hitting Michael at the same time and freezing him in place. The marines' pistols ran out and they reloaded them, Eleanor, Booker, Zachary, the Fireman, and the Zealor getting their powers ready. The Big Sister charged her own Plasmids but stood over the Pinkerton, who remained unconscious, Cindy clutching the Big Sister's neck.
"Elizabeth! Now that he's frozen!" blue Elizabeth yelled, her old version nodding. The girls ran forth, Booker running with them, his shields rearranging into a moving barrier to cover the Elizabeths as they began opening Tears within the icy pillar.
An eruption of forceful power shattered Booker's shields and hurled him and the two Elizabeths several feet back. They hit the floor unconsciously, rolling over. Vigors and Plasmids peppered Michael, the marines emptying their pistols at him as well, but he kept walking in a dominant posture even while Murderous Crows pecked him open.
The Fireman charged Michael, clubbing him with gauntlets and headbutting with his helm. Michael lunged both hands into the Fireman's helm, turning him into an icy pillar. The Zealot leapt, swinging his sword; Michael caught him mid-air and slammed him against the floor.
Eleanor and the Big Sister were next, teleporting at Michael's sides and driving their needles into him while casting fiery Plasmids point blank. Michael's fist glowed with anti-gravitational power, and he punched Eleanor in the gut with such force she lifted off the floor with a groan. She convulsed mid-air and slumped down. Michael kicked the Big Sister in the knee, hearing it crack. The Big Sister wailed and fell, then Michael's arm froze, conjuring a mass of ice which he flailed into the Big Sister's sternum, which shattered on impact but knocked her over, Cindy falling off the ride. Michael unleashed an electromagnetic blast into the Big Sister, hurling her away where she limply flopped against the wall.
"Well, only one thing to do now..." Porter commented, gripping his empty shotgun with both hands by the barrel. Altogether, everyone still standing charged Michael, surrounding him and clubbing him with their guns while he took them down few by few.
Amidst the melee, Zachary and Booker happened to get their chance, and both cast Possession at Michael. He shook his head, somewhat stunned. Booker cast Bucking Bronco, lifting Michael into the air, Zachary casting Shock Jockey at the floating foe, and the Zealot unleashing Murderous Crows.
Affecting himself with gravitational power, Michael slammed himself down into the floor, the ensuing eruption of electromagnetism hurling his many attackers away. Cindy shrieked as she flew over the mezzanine.
"CINDY!" old Elizabeth and Eleanor screamed in their pain.
Michael was about to charge, but he stopped mid-step. Everyone wondered why, then Michael spun around. A pair of wings appeared, rising behind the railings, then he appeared. The skinless, fleshy demon hovered and extended his arms. In his hands was Cindy, Spirry wondering how the hell he ended up inadvertently catching her. The two just stared at each other while the fleshy monsters and fanatics fought like mad cats below.
"B-B-B-Big Angel?" Cindy quivered. Spirry cocked his head.
"Angel to some, demon for others." The marines and Vox stared at the demon, full of surprise.
"Now I've seen everythin'…" Daisy mumbled.
"Mundus est diaboli, is it not?" Michael remarked. "You finally came." Spirry tilted his head the other way, Cindy looking back at Michael.
"I only had to fight through a thousand of the Tears you left behind. Sorry I kept you waiting," he grumbled sarcastically.
"Asinine. We both know I partly control your mind. Your bond with the girl must be genuine. Ironic that it is either you or I who will kill her."
"Indeed." Spirry put Cindy behind his neck, where she clutched.
Blue Elizabeth recovered and got up. Her scraps, cuts and bruises seemed to have healed. She looked around, almost everyone half-unconscious, then saw Spirry hovering. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped.
"No way that can be real…" she whispered.
Help the other you, a gurgly voice sounded in her mind.
Wait, this is the same voice when the machines…
It is indeed the same voice, but not the same entity. I have yet to find him. For now, help your other you...
Blue Elizabeth nodded and crawled towards the Pinkerton, who's face turned a bit in her unconscious discomfort.
Oh God, stay with me, girl… Elizabeth got her medical expertise ready.
"Very well. I will kill two birds with one stone," Michael said, forming his power.
Spirry suddenly dove, ramming his head into Michael's face. A loud crack sounded, Michael's back hitting the floor. Spirry swooped then folded his wings, slamming his feet into his foe's abdomen, crushing guts and shattering the pelvis. Yet, Michael's brutalized, ghostly body kept working. He unleashed his power directly at Spirry, causing the demon to stagger, Cindy nearly falling.
Michael lifted his legs and swung back on his feet, bones cracking and popping. Spirry and Michael approached each other, Spirry swinging his claws wide and powerful. Like a flexible spine, Michael evaded Spirry's swings while punching him in the sternum and kicking his legs. Spirry snapped his jaws over Michael's head, lifted him off the floor, and began thrashing Michael to and fro as if a chew toy.
Michael erupted with forceful power, freeing himself from Spirry's jaws and staggering him. Michael's aura then lashed at Spirry. The skinless fellow shook while raising his arms.
"You will obey," Michael commented, and Spirry walked forwards while twitching randomly, struggling against Michael's will. Michael's fists got empowered by his purple gravitational power, then ice formed over them, and he unloaded a flurry into Spirry's ribs and stomach.
Unable to defend himself from Michael's mind control, Spirry's ribs cracked, his stomach became swollen, and his already-bleeding body bled even more once his stomach broke open. Michael's icy formations became blades, and he rammed both arms into Spirry's stomach, blades cutting through and Spirry's intestines flopping out. The demon grunted.
Icy blades exploding inside Spirry to maximise damage, hurling blood and more guts out, Michael's freezing Plasmid froze Spirry's blood into a spice of ice. Michael grabbed the spike of ice, pulled it out Spirry's body, then rammed the pointy end into Spirry's mouth. The tip popped out the back of his neck, Cindy leaning to the side and narrowly escaping the spike.
Michael then grabbed the front half of the icy spike and wrenched it, feeling it break Spirry's neck. Spirry fell to a knee, grabbing the icy spike. Michael ripped the spike out Spirry's neck, then drove it into his left eye socket, where the rest popped out the back of his skull, Cindy leaning the other direction to dodge it.
Michael formed an anti-gravitational pull within Spirry's torso, causing all his guts to fall over his thighs and dangle above the floor. Spirry threw an uppercut, cracking Michael's jaw and staggering him.
Spirry spread his arms with a growl and dove into Michael's midsection, body movement awkward and twitchy, as if a broken puppet, but Spirry brought Michael down to the floor. He then bit around Michael's neck and thrashed him side to side, trying to rip his head off.
"Woo-whah! Whoa!" Cindy yelled, doing her best to stay on the demon's back.
Michael unleashed an upwards anti-gravitational force, raising Spirry violently, Cindy rolling over his shoulders and flopping onto the floor. Michael got up, and as Spirry fell down, Michael drove his knee into Spirry's jaw, cracking it backwards. With his other leg, Michael stomped into the back of Spirry's neck, damaging the broken neck further.
"Why can't you die!?" Michael demanded, feeling Spirry's tissue moving underfoot, and hearing it rearrange.
Michael suddenly fell over; Eleanor had tackled him from the side. She picked him up and smashed his back into the railings. He fell on his bottom, then Eleanor kneed him in the jaw and drove her needle clean through his head; even the hub and entered his skull. She then grabbed the end of the needle sticking out the back of Michael's head and twisted with both arms, wrenching Michael's head sideways until the neck cracked.
Michael forced himself up, grabbing Eleanor, lifting her, then slamming her back on his knee. Eleanor groaned aloud, and Michael pushed her off his knee. Eleanor rolled over, legs limp, muffled breathing heavy.
Despite pain and partial incapacitation, while still on the floor, Zachary, Booker, the Big Sister, and Fireman cast their fiery powers at Michael. He almost lost his footing, but he easily pummeled his wounded attackers with gravitational power and they were out. Everyone lied in blood.
"Now, where are you?" Michael scanned for Eleanor. Not even her helmet could mask her light moans and occasional whimper. She lied on her back, slowly writhing side to side, but unable to go anywhere.
Michael looked around. A marine and a Vox Beast crawled weakly. He gripped the marine with his telekinetic power, lifted him up, and slammed his head first into the floor. That was the end of him.
The Beast, unable to find a weapon, resorted to taking his helm off and throwing it at Michael. He did not defend himself, letting the helmet smash into his face. Michael cast Winter Blast, freezing the Beast in place. He chopped across the frozen head, and it shattered into many parts.
Booker regained some of his senses, shields recharging, but Michael quickly froze him in place.
"Make sure you don't try anything…"
Michael's eyeless face noticed Sofia crawling backwards, towards the elevator, blood leaking down her face.
"Ahh...of course you would try to save yourself rather than your daughter," Michael commented.
"Eleanor is not my daughter," Sofia spat angrily.
When Eleanor heard that...she was glad the red light hid her face. Although she never wanted to hate Mother, memories came. When she was little. How Mother would tell her how she's special. That time when she triggered an alarm while playing around, and Mother telling her to come back at once. Skipping with Father. Watching Father shoot himself. Finding him again. Bringing him back. Fighting with him. Escaping with him. Being with him… The next thing that rushed her head was sitting with Mother. Her head on Mother's shoulder. Although Mother betrayed her in Ireland... Being so close to death now, even a kind word from Mother would be nice.
Father, wherever you are… If there is anything after death… I'm coming.
Eleanor heard a child crying.
"Eleanor! G-g-get up! Please! I can't be alone, no! Not like this…" Cindy covered her face and wept. "Remember the cupcake I made you? I'll make you another one… Just get up, please!" Cindy heard Michael walking. She fell from fear, hugged her knees, then crawled backwards until her back hit the wall.
"And you are not a Mother." Michael walked after Sofia, who continued crawling. He gave her forehead a quick stomp. The back of her head hit the floor, pain and dizziness erupting throughout her face and skull. Michael partly froze Sofia, just enough for her clothes and skin to be icy. "Don't worry, woman, I'll let you die slowly, in a manner suitable to your cold heart. Nyeh heh heh heh heh-heh-heh-heh!"
A growl interrupted his laugh. He turned. Spirry crawled forth, guts dragging along, joints and spinal cord constantly popping. Michael kicked Spirry across the jaw and he face-planted. He lifted the demon with gravitational power, and slammed him head-first into the floor, blood splashing everywhere. Spirry was limp.
Michael walked towards Eleanor, who teleported. Overhearing the fleshy monsters and fanatics fighting below, Michael walked towards the mezzanine. He saw Eleanor reappear on her feet by the railings; although she tried to force herself to stand in a last attempt to survive, her broken back forced her to fall. She placed a hand on her back and writhed.
The only one who managed to stand, albeit with shaky knees and using a shotgun as a crutch, was Charles, blood leaking down his mouth. He stood in Michael's way.
"Why even try?" Michael asked. Porter spat a mouthful of blood as Michael approached him.
"For Pearl." Porter stepped forth and clubbed his shotgun in Michael's head. Michael punched Charles in the forehead and he fell over. Michael noticed several stacked crates and sandbags he had not seen before, but didn't care, then looked back at Porter as he tried to get up again. Michael spread his arms, hands open, and tilted his head.
"What did you expect? Victory?"
Porter weakly chuckled.
"Not victory… Just a few more seconds…"
Expecting a surprise attack, Michael spun around. Somehow, Spirry was standing behind him, broken body barely able to hold itself up. Spirry breathed heavy, heart beating audibly. Michael paused. Spirry just stood there, and did nothing. He then slowly moved his hand up a little and repeatedly moved a curled first finger to the side. Thinking about the gesture, Michael turned around again, just in time to see two dainty ladies, and bright blue light.
Time itself slowed down. In a surreal moment, Michael's body expanded as two Tears opened in him, his white aura stretching and deforming. His reality distorted, the static and tuning sounds screeching so loudly they echoed. Michael split apart vertically. Both halves flew in either direction, intestines and other organs spreading apart, and the white aura and Plasmids erupting violently.
The younger Elizabeths were thrown to the floor, both convulsing and groaning, white rays of light beaming out their bodies, though Michael's body continued breaking apart in slow motion. As the tuning and static gradually subsided and diminished, Michael's body parts and organs disintegrated mid-air.
Blue Elizabeth rolled onto her back, exhausted, her aura fading away.
"He's finally gone, mother…"