Session Thirty Four
If the situation wasn't so dire, Leon would have laughed at how ridiculous everybody looked. Villanova stood in the center of the room, sword extended, weight on her forward leg. Faye stood in Spike's ripped shirt, head in her hands. Draugh stood on the platform in the back of the room, something between surprise and a smirk on his face. The other Syndicate members were all frozen in positions of outrage or shock, pointing at Leon or Villanova. The room was frozen in time, like Leon haphazardly posed a bunch of life-size action figures. Might as well drop a bomb on it.
"My name is Leon Spiegel!" Leon shouted, his voice carrying across the ballroom. He pulled off the fedora and eyepatch so everyone could see him clearly. He swung one leg carelessly over the ballroom below, the other propped on the railing. He rested his arm against his updrawn knee, pointing his gun idly at Villanova. "The son of Spike and Julia. I'm the one you want to kill!"
Time started moving again and the room became a seething mass of questions and accusations and angry Syndicate members. Dragon guards poured into the ballroom below and Leon sincerely hoped that Ed had been able to remotely lock all the eighth floor entrances in time. But since no one grabbed him from behind, he figured that he was safe for now. He kept an eye on the staircase behind the platform though, just in case someone got smart and tried to come up that way.
"This is some sort of trap!" Malcolm leapt out of his seat on the floor below, accusing Villanova as he and Leon hurriedly planned before they slipped back into the ballroom. "Villanova got us all here to distract us and make sure she eliminated her competition. This is all just a hoax!"
Shouts of agreement ran around the room. Faye took the opportunity to surreptitiously edge out of the center of the room. Fights broke out as several Syndicate members tried to flee the room and Dragon guards tried to stop them.
"How's it going, Ed?" Leon muttered under his breath.
Just give Edward thirty more seconds, she said.
Leon took a deep breath. "So, what are you waiting for, Villanova? Are you going to kill me? Or are you worried I'll shoot first?" He steadied his arm against his knee so the gun pointed at Villanova's chest.
She looked around at the chaos her grand plan had become.
"Stop, you fools!" she shouted. "Can't you see that this is what he wants? He wants chaos so we can't fight back. Idiots!" she roared, pulling a pistol from an inside pocket of her coat.
Leon threw himself backwards off the balcony railing a second before Villanova fired. He ducked behind the balcony wall as a bullet pinged off the railing above his head. He needed a distraction. Leon looked around the balcony, then up at the ceiling - there! A slow smile spread across his face. He risked a peek over the railing. A bullet whipped by so close that it grazed his cheek. Leon hissed and ducked back down, wiping blood from the stinging cut on his face. But he'd seen what he needed to. Faye had backed out of the center of the room. He spun around, careful to keep his head lower than the balcony wall, and aimed up, at the bolts keeping the giant crystal chandelier anchored in the ceiling. He shot once, twice, three times and was rewarded by an ominous creak overhead. He heard Villanova shout below and then the chandelier ripped free of its mangled bolts and crashed to the floor in a rain of metal and sparks. Leon jumped back as it fell, wincing as he realized he hit something electrical. A few stray sparks floated down around him and he brushed them off his coat before they could catch.
Leon risked another glance over the balcony rail. This time there were no shots. The chandelier lay in a shattered heap on the floor, embers smoldering around the shattered crystal. Some of the chairs in the room caught fire, while other sparks winked out when they hit metal or the polished floor. The rest of the room was a chaotic mass exodus of Tiger, Snake, and Dragon members alike. No one wanted to stick around for the finale anymore. Of Villanova, there was no sign. But the elevator leading to the prison below was lowered. The floor panels lay half-open and bent under the chandelier. Leon cursed under his breath. Villanova must've activated the elevator when she realized what he was doing. There was no sign of Draugh in the room either, but Leon caught a glimpse of Faye and Malcolm slipping out a door behind the staircase.
Just then, the Tower was rocked by an even bigger crash. It sounded like it came from a few floors above. Leon instinctively ducked as he felt the floor under his feet shudder. Alarms blared through the building, adding their claxon clamor to the yelling.
"What was that?" someone shouted.
"It sounded like an explosion!"
The remainder of the room evacuated even faster, running each other over in the panic to escape. Leon took that as his cue to beat a hasty retreat.
"Ed, open the doors!"
They're open! she said. Something went kablooie and Ed doesn't have the seventh and eighth floors anymore.
"Oops," Leon muttered. He turned and dashed across the floor to the nearest door. He yanked it open and ran out into the hall, where he almost collided with a wide-eyed Faye.
"Faye!" he exclaimed.
"Hey," she said. "Did you feel that?"
"You mean the crash?" Leon asked. "How could I not?"
"Of course. You don't think…?" she trailed off.
Leon, you copy? Jet's voice come over his receiver.
Leon held up a finger to Faye. "Yeah, I copy."
Good, meet us on the eleventh floor, will ya? Your ride's here.
"Ten-four, Jet," Leon said.
"What did he say?" Faye asked.
"He said our ride is on the eleventh floor," Leon said with a puzzled expression on his face.
"What? He didn't," Faye scowled. "Do you know how much the repair bill for that will cost us, you lunkhead?" she yelled at the ceiling like Jet could hear her through the floors.
"You mean, that crash was Jet?"
Faye looked over at Leon. "What else did you think it was? Now c'mon, we need to get moving!"
Faye took off down the hall like she knew where she was going and Leon followed.
"Where's our friend Malcolm?" Leon asked as they ran.
"With ISSP!" Faye yelled over the sound of the alarms.
"They actually came?"
You're damn right we did, Malcolm said in Leon's ear, his voice ringing with pride. You guys get yourselves out of here. We'll take care of rounding up the Syndicates. Nobody's getting out of the Tower without us knowing. We've already caught the Tiger leader and several fleeing Dragon and Snake members.
"Well, color me impressed," Leon muttered under his breath.
He and Faye passed a few running figures in the hall, but they all seemed more intent on getting out of the building than stopping Leon or Faye. The two rounded a corner and Faye led them up a staircase, taking the stairs two at a time. Leon followed easily, his stride longer than Faye's. They burst out onto the ninth floor and sprinted down the curving hallway for the next staircase. Leon cursed the tower's design - while it looked fancy, it didn't do much for anyone trying to escape. This part of the tower became circular again, running around the open area Leon had glimpsed from the eleventh floor. The hallways curved around an open space in the center, decorated with ornamental wooden panels interspaced with colored tiles. A decorative glass panel about waist height circled the inside of the hallways, separating them from the center section. Leon and Faye sprinted around the edge of the floor.
"Stop where you are!" A shout rang out behind them.
Leon and Faye kept running, but a shot rang out behind them. Faye let out a grunt as the bullet slammed into her from behind and sent her staggering to the floor. Leon slid to a stop and turned back for her. Her vest had once again saved her life, but now a squad of angry Dragon men advanced down the hall toward them, guns at the ready. At their head was the stern red-headed Captain of the Guard. Leon stepped out in front of Faye and shot two of the Dragon men. He cursed as his first shot missed, but his second found it's mark in the other man's leg. He didn't aim for the chest, figuring that the guards might have body armor. The second man fell, clutching at his knee.
"Stop right there, Servas!" Leon shouted, wishing that he had more bullets.
"Or what?" Servas asked, an amused tilt to her mouth. But she signaled for her remaining three men to stop. "You'll shoot us? You're welcome to try."
Leon held his gun trained on Servas. He didn't trust her. Behind him, Faye staggered breathlessly to her feet.
"Why don't you put that down, boy, before someone gets killed?" Servas asked.
"If I put it down, I'm going to get killed," Leon said.
Servas tilted her head as if listening to something Leon couldn't hear.
Don't get yourself killed, kid. I'm on my way, Jet said. He sounded like he was running.
"Not yet," Servas said. "Villanova wants to reserve that right for herself. But she didn't say anything about your friend there." Servas gestured at Faye.
"Oh, no, we are not playing this game again!" Leon said through gritted teeth.
"What are you doing?" Faye hissed in his ear.
"Getting you out of here," Leon responded.
"Hell, no! I came into this damn Tower to get you out!"
"Are you done with your little conference?" Servas asked, crossing her arms, like she was watching an amusing play.
"We sure are!" Leon shouted and he shot twice more, both at Servas. Even with her steely resolve, she flinched as one of the bullets pounded into her shoulder, the other flying past her.
"RUN!" Leon yelled, grabbing Faye and pushing her in front of him while Servas was distracted. He shoved Faye at the glass barrier and she took the hint and vaulted it, Leon right behind. They sprinted across the center of the floor.
"Now!" Servas yelled.
Leon heard an unmistakable clink behind him and looked back just in time to see a grenade falling through the air toward him and Faye. He threw himself forward, tackling Faye and covering her with his body as he knocked her to the ground. A few seconds later, Leon heard the grenade hit the floor and an explosion once again rocked the tower. Luckily, he'd thrown himself and Faye far enough to be out of the worst of the shrapnel and they covered their heads as dust and debris settled around them from a now gaping hole in the floor.
Leon glanced over his shoulder. Servas and her men had all also taken defensive positions on the other side of the now-shattered glass barrier, but the hole stood between them, looking down into the ballroom two stories below like some sort of jagged window. Smoke curled from the edges of the hole.
"Ha! Servas, you missed!" Leon shouted. "C'mon, Faye, let's go." He said, standing up and offering Faye a hand.
But as he stepped back to get the leverage to pull Faye to her feet, he felt the floor give way under his foot. Leon met Faye's eyes with an expression of terrified surprise as he fell to one knee on the sloping floor.
"No!" Faye shouted, reaching for him as he slid back toward the hole.
"Get out of here, Faye!" Leon yelled as the floor creaked alarmingly under him. Something else gave way, and he slipped back several inches. His hands scrabbled for purchase on broken tiles and wood, but everything he reached for crumbled or broke under his grip.
On the other side of the hole, Servas stood, brushing dust off her uniform and frowning down at the blood blossoming on her shoulder. "I do believe that I hit my mark, after all, Mr. Spiegel." She stepped forward and raised her gun.
"No!" Faye shouted again, lunging for Leon.
Servas laughed and pointed her gun down at the floor, shooting it into a weakened beam running across the hole. It was the last straw. The last bit of flooring crumbled and fell just as Faye's fingertips brushed Leon's, but it was too late. He didn't even have a chance to shout as he plunged into the ballroom below.