A/N: ...
Disclaimer: I don't own Bioshock.
The Good Time Club had quickly went from a place of drinking and fun to something akin to the Roman Colossium. Complete with a tyranical madman who watched people butcher one another like it was a great honor to do so.
Of course, the gladiators back then didn't have guns or the ability to throw lightning from their hands.
Reece pulled Elizabeth down behind a booth as lightning shot over their heads from the electric powered thug on the stage. A literal hail of gunfire followed from two MG turrets that popped up from columns on either side of the raised platform.
The traveler popped up from behind their cover, shotgun in hand and started blasting away at the automated guns as his shield protected him from being torn apart. One turret exploded before he had to drop down when his field was broken.
Electricity crackling around his hands, the thug, which Reece had labeled a Shocker, (A/N: Name comes from Servox312!) shot a cluster of bolts around the room. Causing charged crystals to form on several surfaces and forming a spider-web of energy and making movement even more difficult.
Peering over the booth, the teens saw the curtain around the stage open and a gun turret came floating out of with the aid of a small array of hot air balloons and propellers. A second contraption followed as they both started raining more rounds down from above.
Reece threw himself over Elizabeth and covered her as the rounds struck all around them. A couple bouncing off of his barrier as they drew in closer. "They got us pinned, we need a good plan and fast." he said taking out his hand cannon and aiming at one of the floating turrets. Firing a couple rounds when it came in range.
The young woman searched around the corner of the room where they holed up in. Eyes locking on a sliver of light rippling in the air behind another booth. "Tear!" she called out, holding up her hand and sending out a beam of light that opened the small portal and brining forth a crate with an RPG launcher on it.
Seeing the tear open, Reece looked up at the hovering turret closing in on them. Snapping a hand out and launching a Possession into it causing the automation to slowly turn around and shooting at the other guns in the room. Distracting them long enough for the teen to bolt from cover, sliding across the floor behind the booth where the tear opened.
Grabbing the launcher and bringing it to bear before firing the first rocket directly into the remaining stationary turret. Fire and metal rained down around the stage from the explosion as the traveler reaimed and fired the second rocket and destroying the floating turret that wasn't under his control.
Electricity shot through the air causing Reece to drop the spent launcher and drop into cover while drawing his shotgun. The Shocker walked toward the end of the stage, hand outstretched as he sent out another bolt that burned the polished wood of the booth the teen was crouched behind.
"Give it up kid! You're not leaving this club alive!" the man called out channeling more energy along his form.
The traveler was on his feet, shotgun registering before racking in a new round and firing again. The Shocker dodged to the side sending bolts in mutliple directions causing the teen to duck behind a table.
Reece rolled out of cover firing his last two shells before tossing the spent shotgun aside and throwing a fire-grenade at his opponent. The blast of fire and magma burning the Shocker's arm making him cry out in agony, giving the teen enough time to draw his hand cannon and put a round through his chest.
Pulling the hammer back, a second round followed the first. Punching another bloody hole in the electric-man's torso before he fell to the stage. The glowing lines covering his body fading along with his power as the life left him.
Lowering the powerful handgun, Reece charged his own electric powers and zapped all of the crystals around the room. Destroying them and disrupting the energy field they were giving off so that he and his charge could move again.
Elizabeth came out from behind her cover. Approaching her friend as he went to the body of one of the men he killed. Picking up the man's machine gun and several clips of ammo since his shotgun had run empty. "Well..." Reece said slamming a fresh clip into the weapon and looking at the young woman with a smirk. "Let's not go through that again."
A nod in agreement and a small smile lifted the tension in the air...but only for a moment.
"CONGRADULATIONS Reece!" Fink's voice echoed from the speakers around the room. "You know, when your name was first passed to me I wasn't quite sure you were the one for the job. But now, I can say with certainty that I was quite wrong!"
"Did you forget what I said before Fink?" Reece asked fed up with the mogul's constant jibberish. "I'm not interested in your job. I've got more important things to worry about than your crazy ass."
"Yes, yes. I know all about your little job for Fitzroy." replied the mogul. "But do you really want to take her offer over mine? Do you know how many people would kill to be Head of Fink Security? You're a tough nut ot crack, Mr. Vega. A tough nut!"
Fink's tone turned serious when he spoke again. "But I promise you this. I will get what I want." With that said, the PA system cut out and the lights around the upper balcony centered on the stages curtain as it rose up. Revealing the backstage area filled with props and scenery.
With no other way to go, and a gunsmith to find. The teens stepped on to the stage and entered the back area where a lone door stood off to the side. "I think that's the way down." Elizabeth said as they approached the door that lead into the dressing room.
Another door beyond that revealed a stairway that lead down to the buildings basement level. Reece stopped halfway down the steps and halted Elizabeth when he heard voices down below them. "Come on, Frannie. You're a modern woman...It's nineteen TWELVE..." they heard a male voice as they treaded lightly to the base of the stairs.
"It's gonna be TWO THOUSAND twelve before I'm interested in one like you." said a woman as footsteps could be heard getting closer.
Pressing himself and Elizabeth to the wall next to the door. Reece held a finger to his lips as he set the machine gun down between them an waited. Both guards walked through the door at the same time giving him the opening he was waiting for.
The traveler got behind them, grabbing the male guard by the neck and holding him as a shield. The female guard spun around fast and reached for her side arm but the teen was faster. Drawing her partner's gun and shooting her twice before dropping the weapon and locking the man in a strong arm-bar grapple. Kicking his feet out from under him and slamming his head into the bottom step of the stairs with a loud crunch.
Covering her mouth and looking away, Elizabeth jumped when she felt a hand on her arm. Reece gave her a reassuring smile before picking up his machine gun and motioning with his head to follow him.
He had begun to hate himself. The number of people he had killed in the last couple days was steadily climbing by the hour, he was pretty sure he passed his grandfather's kill count from back in the war. And to be honest...you can only call self-defense for so long before folks start calling bullshit.
Shaking his head, Reece remained focused on the task at hand. "I'll deal with my morals and ethics being tainted when this shit is over. Besides, I'm pretty sure God would understand considering what Comstock and his marry band of assholes are doing here." he thought with his resolve returning as they entered another room.
Elizabeth took notice of a chalkboard on the wall with names listed next to certain numbers. "I think they keep high priority prisoners here." she said looking down the list until she saw something interesting. "Look! Chen-Lin, cell number 9"
"At least we know he's here." said Reece approaching a door with a lock on it. "Think you can get this open?"
The young woman smiled before approaching the lock, "This little thing? Easy." she said going to work on it and taking it off in less than 12 seconds. "Fink doesn't seem like the man people around here consider him to be." she stated as they entered a storage room with a furnace on the far wall.
"Most people like him never are. People who think that money and power can grant them whatever they want, including invincibility from the law." Reece said tensly. "I always hated guys like him. Preaching about hard work when they don't know the meaning of it."
Elizabeth looked to say something when the door on the other side of the store room burst open and two thugs ran in with clubs and knives in hand. Reece raised his machine gun and sprayed bullets and a small arc, peppering them and dropping them to the floor before they got too close.
The room they had come from looked like a man-made theater, complete with a film reel and projection screen for who ever wanted to watch.
Curious, the duo approached the projector and switched it on. The screen lit up with a grainy, black and white reel of an old asian man tied to a chair. Blood dripping down his face and one of his eyes swollen shut from whatever the people in this place had done to him.
It was easy to decipher that the man on the reel was Chen-Lin.
"Tell us what you know about Fitzroy, you goddamn gook!" a man shouted from off screen. "We know you can hear us. You wanna say something?" said another. "Or you want us to bring in Mrs. Lin for company?"
The teens looked on with different emotions. Elizbeth in horror, Reece in rage at seeing what they were putting this poor man through.
Chen-Lin remained silent despite the mens' threats. "Eh, throw a bucket of ice water on him, we got three more to bring in tonight." said the first interrogator. The projection cut out after thar leaving a tense silence.
"We need to find him, and fast." the traveler said turning to the door to their right and heading for it. Stepping into the adjacent hallway where they were hit with a powerful stench that made their eyes water.
"Ugh...What's that smell?" Elizabeth gaged.
"No bathrooms. They treat their prisoners like animals." her companion said, covering his nose with his jacket an catching sight of a guard at the far end of the prison block. A quick burst from his machine gun put him down allowing them to move about without fear of detection.
"What did people do to deserve being locked up in a place like this?" Elizabeth asked as they began checking cells.
"From what I've seen, Fink doesn't need a reason to do anything as long as it's in Comstock's favor." said the traveler walking by another door.
The cell door on Reece's right burst open and another guard ran out to attack him. In the span of only a few seconds, the teen dropped his gun, grabbed the man's outstretched arm and flipped him over his shoulder. Slamming the guard on the ground before snapping the arm he was still holding hard to the side breaking it easily from his angle.
Shouting in pain, the guard was silenced when a boot heel slammed down on his throat. Crushing his windpipe and breaking his neck in one shot leaving the hallway quiet again.
Picking up his gun, Reece motioned to Elizabeth to keep moving as they headed to the end of the prison block where the steel door with the number '9' was painted on the front. "This is it." said the traveler reloading his weapon. "Get ready for anything."
His charge quickly picked the lock and stepped aside as he kicked the door open. Gun at the ready as they stormed the room beyond.
To their surprise, it wasn't a jail cell like the others. The door opened up to a long room filled with tables, crates and barrels. Shackles hung from the tiled walls a couple of which still had blood stained on them. "What is this place?" asked Elizabeth with a shiver seeing various sharp instruments on the tables nearby.
"It ain't no jail cell..." Reece said not liking the feel of the place either. Bad things had happened here, he could sense it in his bones. His gaze locked on a set of stairs to their right and they headed for it.
"Reece, you're a lion." Finks voice came over the PA system making the teens snap to attention. "But you can't blame me for looking after my own interests, can you? Now, I know Fitzroy has come calling...but I think you'll find your business with her has come to an end. Heh heh. Lions walk with lions, Reece. Not hyenas!"
Neither of them liked the sound of what Fink was saying and moved faster. Going down flight after flight of stairs until they reached the bottom floor. The white tiles under them covered in streaks of fresh blood that lead through a set of double doors ahead of them into a darkened room.
Senses hightened, finger tight around the trigger. Reece stepped slowly inside. Elizabeth nearly glued to his side as they moved together through the shadows and toward a small lamp that illuminated the light switch in the back of the room.
Their shoes stepped in puddles on the floor making the sounds echo off the walls as they reached the switch and pressed it.
The bright florecent lights above sprang on temporarily blinded the duo. When they adjusted to the sudden light, they saw what kind of room they were in. The blood draining from their faces as a cold chill went up their spines.
It resembled a surgical theater, white tiled walls and floors with tables covered in bloody surgical devices. The puddles they had been stepping through when they had entered was blood, all of it coming from the middle of the room where a battered and bleeding man was strapped down to a chair.
"...Reece..." Elizabeth whimpered in horror, covering her mouth as bile slowly rose in the back of her throat.
Swallowing back the lump in his own throat. Reece stepped slowly toward the man in the chair. It was Chen-Lin. And from the looks of his corpse he'd been there for a while being subjected to god knew what as the assholes in this place tried to get information out of him.
Reaching up, the teen pressed his fingers to the man's throat. His skin already cooled below normal standards and lacking a pulse. He looked at Elizabeth grimly and shook his head. "He's dead. Bastards tortured him until his body couldn't take it anymore...We're too late."
Anger burned through his veins. His arm lashing out and flipping one of the tables over and sending the instruments on it clattering to the floor and echoing through the room. "FUCK!" the traveler roared, taking deep breaths to calm himself. "No one deserves to die like this! Like some fucking animal in a slaughter house!"
Overcoming the sudden movements of her companion, Elizabeth looked at Chen's body sadly. "Fink...this is what he meant. What will we do now?"
Reece breathed out through his nose, calming himself as much as he could before speaking, "Dead is dead. We can't help him now."
"Dead is dead." Reece had his machine gun up and Elizabeth spun around when they heard a man's voice at the front of the room where the door was. The flickering light above the entrance illuminating the calm and emotionless forms of Robert and Rosalind as they stood observing them from the threshold.
"Where the hell did you two come from? How the hell did you get in here?" the traveler growled not liking the situation.
Neither of them answered. Robert took out a coin and flipped it in the air, catching it and showing what side it landed on. "I see...heads." said Rosalind.
"And I see tails." said her brother turning the coin over.
"It's all a matter of perspective." replied Rosalind.
"Why are you following us? Who are you working for?" asked Elizabeth not understanding what they were saying.
"What do you see here from this angle?" asked Robert.
"Dead." said Rosalind. "And that angle?"
"Alive." said her brother. "Two sides. Different outcomes."
A sliver of light started forming over Chen-Lin's body. Reece and Elizabeth stepped back as the light grew brighter and brighter until it burst. The gunsmith's body disappeared and in it's place was a black and white portal that revealed a room similar to the one they were in on the other side.
Only the floors were made of wood and the tables had crates on them. The image faded in and out as though it were trying to come into focus.
"It...looks like another Columbia." said Reece overcoming his shock and looking through the portal.
"It is." Elizabeth replied stepping closer to the light. "A different Columbia than the one we're in right now."
"The same coin." said Robert reminding them that they were still there.
"A different perspective." said Rosalind.
"Heads." "Tails." "Dead." "Alive." The portal fluctuated with each word as though it were waiting for something to happen.
Elizabeth reached out and touched the edges making the constant shifting stop. "We have to go through...to this other Columbia. But how?"
The twins smiled at her. "It's like riding a bicycle." said Robert.
"One never really forgets." said Rosalind.
"One just needs the courage to climb aboard." added her brother. The portal flashed again blinding the teens for a moment, and when they looked back at the doorway the twins were gone. The lights back to normal as though nothing had happened.
"How the hell are they doing that?" Reece wondered looking from where the two was standing and back to the portal. "But right now...what do we do?"
"Reece." the traveler looked at Elizabeth who looked back at him seriously. "I think I can open this tear enough for us to pass through. But if we do...I don't think I'll be able to bring us back here."
Looking back at the tear, Reece couldn't think of any other options. Who knew what was on the other side. Despite the cryptic words the twins had used he did understand what they were saying on a small level.
The Columbia on the other side was similar to the one they were in, but much like a coin it was also different. This coupled with Elizabeth's explinations about tears and how they work gave him a rough idea on what they might encounter on the other side.
"Multi-verse...makes me wish I took that physics class back at school. Just thinking about it gives me a headache." he thought shaking his head.
"We don't have many options. If Chen-Lin is alive in this alternate Columbia then it's the only thing going for us." he said coming to a decision.
Elizabeth nodded, stepping closer to the tear and reaching out to grab the edges. Straining from exertion as she began to pull the opening apart and expanding it slowly. Wisps of energy coming out of the portal and around the young woman's body as she put more power into it.
With one good pull the tear spread throughout the room. The skin on Reece's arms tingled when he felt the energy wash over him as they passed through the opening. The world around them remaining in black and white as it shifted and changed. The surgical room becoming a store room filled with crates containing guns of different varieties.
The blood stained tile floors becoming wooden and clean as the Columbia the duo had been in vanished like a bad memory.
In moments, the grainy look of the world came into better focus. Colors coming back to everything around them as their little 'jump' settled around them. Sounds and smells returning to their senses as they now stood in the new world.
"That was...I got nothing." Reece said still in awe looking at how things had changed around them. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Elizabeth sway on her feet and moved quickly to her side to catch her when she almost toppled over. "Elizabeth? You okay?" he asked holding her steady.
Nodding, the young woman attempted to stand but fell back into her companions arms. "A bit dizzy. Opening that tear took a little more out of me than I thought." she admitted. Before she knew what was happening, Reece scooped her up in his arms making an 'eep!' squeak out of her as he held her in a bridal carry and moved over to a nearby crate.
"I think we both deserve a break after what we've been through." he said setting her down gently on the wood surface. Taking off his backpack and setting it next to her while digging out a bottle of water and a few snacks he'd managed to acquire. "Rest up, we'll get moving again when you're feeling better."
The obvious care in Reece's voice had Elizabeth blushing. She began munching on a few of the snacks they had while her companion began going through some of the crates in the room. Watching him silently as he moved about taking lids off the boxes and observing the contents.
A familiar feeling began blooming in her chest. The feeling of warmth that she had been experiencing since he'd saved her from the tower, the same one she had been trying to find an explination to every free moment she had.
Being alone in that tower had left her isolated, only a handful of people had been there every once in a while, but in the end the young woman was alone growing up. Songbird had been the closest thing to a friend she had. But after a while he became more like her warden instead of a companion, leaving her feeling empty and depressed.
Then it all changed. A young man her age falling from the ceiling in her prison, promising her freedom and offering protection along with safe passage out of the city that held her captive. A man out of time, yet willing to help someone he knew nothing about. Whose bravery went beyond that of the heros she had read in the many books in her library.
Her mind slowly drifted toward the way he looked when he revealed his 'tattoos'. Heat rising to her cheeks as she recalled the toned muscles that were revealed, a product of his physical conditioning back in his time. Her stomach had squirmed when her fingers traced the black markings along his warm skin, finding it hard to pull away.
Shaking her head in an attempt to ward away those thoughts, but the memory of when she saved Reece from drowning appeared. Performing CPR to get him breathing again, the feel of his lips on her own as she breathed life back into him...
"Stop it!" she mentally screamed at herself. But the feeling in her chest seemed to grow with her thoughts. The more they went along together, the closer they seemed to get and the harder it was for Elizabeth to keep him out of her thoughts.
Her eyes widened when realization hit her. Even with the books she read growing up it had taken her this long to figure out why she had been feeling the way she had been toward Reece. "It...could it be possible?" she wondered looking back at the traveler as he pulled a couple of weapons from a crate and set them on the table in the middle of the room.
"Could I be...No. I have only known him for two days. Even after everything we've been through up to this point." she thought sadly. "He's from the future, he'll have to return at some point. But the signs are all there. And I can't help myself from feeling like this."
Elizabeth smiled, hand resting over her chest as she began to relish in the feeling spreading through her.
X
Reece looked at the weapons he had gathered and the boxes of ammo for each on the table before him.
One of the weapons looked exactly like his machine gun, but had a smaller clip and was only capable of firing single shot instead of full auto.
The other gun looked like a carbine, but had been modified to the point of looking like something completely different. The tip of the barrel was larger along with the clip size, the weapon also had a small lense acting as a sight on the top. It was capable of firing in three-round bursts allowing both accuracy and rate of fire at the same time making it the better of the two.
Both guns possessed a red and black paint job which confirmed what the signs on all of the crates had stated that these weapons were confiscated from the Vox. "I'm already getting a bad feeling about this universe." he thought bitterly while picking up the 'Burst Gun' checking it over before slapping a fresh clip into it.
He grabbed boxes of ammo for it, the machine gun and the hand cannon he got from other crates and headed over to where he left the backpack next to Elizabeth. His eyes catching his charge who looked to be deep in throught about something. Her eyes trained on the floor and a blush painting her cheeks while she smiled.
"Elizabeth?" he asked snapping her out of her daze. "Feeling any better?"
The young woman's blush deepened, "Y-Yes, I am feeling a bit better. Thank you." she managed to stutter out before hopping off of the crate.
Reece gave her a calculating look, wondering what she had been thinking so hard about but deciding to let it go. "If you're up for it, we should get moving again. Don't know who we might encounter or what has changed compared to where we were before."
Getting a nod back, he reached for the backback when Elizabeth stopped him. "I'll carry it." she said picking the bag up and slinging it over her shoulders.
"You sure? It's not too heavy?" he asked wondering if she could handle it.
The young woman adjusted the straps so that it was comfortable before regarding her companion. "It's fine, Reece. And besides, it'll be easier for me to toss you Salts and ammo when you need it instead of you having to reach for it while in combat."
Not being able to fight with that kind of logic, Reece agreed but under the stipulation that she let him know when it got to be too much for her to handle. With new rifle in hand, the duo left the room and up the stairs that were thankfully still there. "Everything looks similar...just a bit off." said the traveler keeping his rifle level.
"It's another world Reece. Another Columbia." said Elizabeth as they reached the top of the steps.
"Gotta strong feeling that our dead gunsmith won't be the only thing that's changed here." replied Reece pushing the door leading to the prison block open. The whole corridor was filled with loud shouts coming from the surrounding cells.
Every barred off room was filled with people, many of them wearing uniforms identifying them as members of the Vox. The rest were civilians who looked terrified at where they were being kept.
"What the hell happened around here?" Reece wondered as they stepped through the corridor. "Vega! Vega over here!" the teen turned and recieved a shock when he saw a familiar face behind the bars to his left.
Cornelius Slate gripped the bars before him, his uniform looking somewhat the same from the last time he saw him but also had a bit of the Vox's colors mixed in. His old, haggard face looking more worn than before as his lone eye leered out at them.
"Slate?" Reece asked stepping up to the cell. "What the hell are you doing here? What happened to everything?"
Slate scoffed, "What hasn't happened? This is what we get for trusting that bastard Chen-Lin with helping Fitzroy's cause. He was suppose to give us enough firearms to overthrow Comstock...instead he betrayed us and we were captured!"
The other prisoners all roared in outrage with the old veteran. "But the real question here is, where have you been Vega?" asked Slate. "You up and vanished damn near a week ago, what happened?"
Reece shot a confused look at Elizabeth who just shrugged equally confused. "It's...hard to explain." he said to the veteran. "But we need to find Chen-Lin and ask a few questions. Think you can lend a hand?"
"Can't do much from in here, soldier." replied away from the bars.
The traveler shouldered his rifle and drew the hand cannon, "Step back!" he shouted as the rebels all backed away from the door. Pressing the barrel to the doorlock and pulling the trigger, the lock on the cell blew apart allowing the door to swing open.
He repeated the same action with the rest of the cells allowing the captured men and woman to file out into the corridor. "All the confiscated weapons are down in the lower levels! Arm up and get the hell out of here!" the teen called out to the dozens of people gathered.
Half the Vox members that were gathered went down to get the weapons while the rest stayed behind to make sure the civilian prisoners were safe. Slate exited his cell and regarded the young man who released them. "Still the same man you always were. Enough honor and bravery to inspire those around you. Good to see you haven't lost that."
"We're going after Chen-Lin. Think you and your men can keep Fink and Comstock's men off of us?" asked Reece taking out his burst rifle again.
Slate grinned, "You go on ahead, son. We'll clear a path once we're finished arming up. We got some payback to dish out to these dishonorable bastards."
Nodding to the old veteran, the two teens back tracked along the same path they had gone through before. Thankful that the buildings layout was exactly the same. They stepped into the room with the projection reel and saw that it was playing again.
"Daisy Fitzroy. Come on, you piece of horse shit! Tell me about Daisy-" the interrogator was cut off by his partner. "Scofield says cut him loose. They're bringing his tools to the lockup."
Passing through the room, Reece kept trying to wrap his head around what was happening. "How can Chen-Lin be alive? I can understand the whole different universe thing, but how can death be reversed?"
"We're in a world where he was never murdered." replied Elizabeth. "Somewhere we'll find out why, I suppose."
"I guess we can rule out the possibility of changing one thing and keeping the rest the same?" asked her companion only getting a shake of the head in return. "What about what Slate said? How can he know me here when we just got here?"
Stroking her chin, the young woman thought hard about that. "I really can't be sure 100%. Perhaps it's similar to how Chen-Lin is still alive instead of being dead. There must have been alternate versions of ourselves in this world at one point."
Reece could feel his headache growing, "Christ, maybe I should have gone into Quantum Mechanics for school instead of Auto Mechanics." he said getting a giggle out of Elizabeth.
They entered the room at the bottom of the stairs leading to the dressing rooms upstairs. Standing by the doors was the two guards Reece had taken out before. But something was wrong with them. One was on the floor groaning in pain and the other was barely able to stand upright. Blood dripped out of their eyes, ears, nose and mouths making it look like they were suffering.
"I'm disgusted. DISGUSTING. Sick SICK sick..." groaned the male guard on the floor.
"These guards..." Reece trailed off keeping his weapon leveled on them. "I killed them. They were dead."
"Not in this world." said his charge as they stepped around them. The dillerious guards unaware of their passing. "Perhaps the world we came from effects this one in some ways. You killed them before, so now..." she looked striken. "It could be possible that...they remember dying. And the memories are making them this way."
Reece looked disturbed at the thought, the sheer horror of reliving your own death when you're alive. "I guess there really is a worse fate than death." he mused as they left the guards alone and went up the stairs to the dressing room. Passing through it without trouble and out on to the stage.
A spotlight covered them making the duo cover their eyes. It was then they realized their error.
The whole room had people in it. They were in the middle of watching a show when the teens stepped out on to the stage. Several of the men in the crowd standing up and reaching for weapons.
"WHAT is GOING on HERE, SANSMARK?!" Fink roared over the speakers in the room. "As my HEAD of SECURITY, I suspect YOU'LL want to find out HOW these two slipped past YOUR MEN. And WHAT THEY WERE DOING IN THE BASEMENT!"
The soldiers that had been in the room stormed the stage, clubs in hand while Reece raised his rifle and fired a three-round burst into the closest gunman. Quickly reaiming and shooting two others as the rest made it on to the platform.
Ducking under a swipe, Reece drove his elbow hard under the soldier's chin and cracking a couple of his teeth. Pressing the barrel of the rifle into the man's gut and pulling the trigger twice, spraying blood through the air before dropping the body and blocking a strike from another soldier.
Lifting his foot and kicking the man away and shooting electricity into his form, putting him down and aiming at the last soldier and shooting him in the head as he tried reaching for Elizabeth.
The immediate threat was over, but the doors around the threater burst open making Reece pull the young woman behind him as he prepared to fight. But to their surprise gunfire erupted from the open doorways.
Soldiers wearing Comstock's colors tumbled out of the doorways with bullet holes covering their forms. The Vox members that had been imprisoned came out weapons drawn as they finished off the men.
The door leading back to the basement burst open and more prisoners came out with guns ready. The civilians kept within a protective formation as they moved out into the open. Leading this group was Slate. Machine gun clenched in his hand as he approached the teens.
"Having fun without us, Vega?" asked the old veteran putting two rounds into the soldier that was still twitching from Reece's electric attack. "If your going after that bastard-traitor Lin than I'd get moving. The boys and I are heading back to base, Fitzroy will be happy to have so many of her people back."
Reece nodded, "Let her know she'll have her guns. But she had better remember our deal." Slate nodded as he motioned for his men to follow him. Leading the civilians out of the threater and out of harms way.
Looking at Elizabeth, the traveler made a similar motion as they headed for the exit. Passing by the bodys of the guards stationed around the building and out into the square where a full on gun battle was just finishing up. The members of the Vox putting down the last of the soldiers in the area while others helped wounded civilians that had been caught in the crossfire.
"I'm really not liking this place." Reece said looking at a dead worker buried under a broken carriage. He looked up at the clocktower where Lin's business was kept and headed that way with Elizabeth beside him. Entering the shop and finding it looking almost the same as it had before.
Going through the shop to the back, they began climbing the stairs when Elizabeth made an observation. "You hear anything?"
Straining to hear, the traveler shook his head. "No machines, no tools, nothing. We better find him, that's probably the only way for us to find out how to get out of all this." they rounded the next corner and up the stairs only to stop in their tracks.
The shrine that had once been dedicated to Buddha was now dedicated to Comstock. Bearing the city's flags and a bust of the Prophet gazing down at them from its spot on the altar. "Reece...the shrine. It's a figure of Comstock now." Elizabeth said with a slight shiver.
"I guess the changes are a lot worse than we thought." Reece said as they passed the shrine and up to the attic. But instead of seeing machines and tools meant for making guns, they only found emptiness. The interrogation recorded on the reel back in the theaters basement had been right when they said all of the gunsmith's things had been taken.
Movement to the left had the traveler's weapon up. In the shadows of the room, a man was moving about as though he were working on something. He didn't seem to notice their arrival and went about his business. Stepping closer, they recognized the man immediately.
Chen-Lin moved his hands through the air, acting as though he were working on something that only he could see. Lowering his rifle, Reece reached to tap the man on the shoulder. "Um, Mr. Lin? Chen-Lin?" his hand touched the gunsmith's shoulder...
...And passed right through it as his form flickered like it had bad reception.
The gunsmith spun around and started freaking out. "Who are you? You speak up. Speak up! Can't hear you over all these machines!" he exclaimed as his body flickered a little more wildly. Moving to another part of the room and 'working' on another invisible machine.
Confusion just didn't quite say it for what the teens were feeling at that moment. Clearing his throat, Reece tried speaking to him again. "I'm Reece Vega-"
"Stand back! These machines very dangerous! Wait downstairs with Mrs. Lin!" Chen said cutting him off as he continued his 'work'.
"Daisy Fitzroy sent us to talk to you about getting some weapons?" the teen pushed forward wanting to get answers.
Chen shook his head, moving about the room seemingly in a daze as he spoke again. "Machines very dangerous. No place for stupid people. Want to lose pretty head?"
Reece bristled and approached the gunsmith, "Alright, enough of this. We're looking for answers and we're-"
"Reece." he stopped when Elizabeth grabbed his arm. "Remember seeing him dead in that cell? Maybe in some way he remembers what he had been through."
It took a moment, but understanding passed through her companion's thoughts. "Like the guards back at the theater..." he looked back at Chen and felt pity for the man. "How can you reconcile something like that?"
The young woman shrugged helplessly. "Maybe Mrs. Lin has answers. It's worth a shot to find out how to help him."
Agreeing with her, they headed back down the stairs to find the lady of the house and found themselves back at the shrine where a caucasian woman in a regal dress was standing before the altar and praying. "Heal my husband. Calm his troubled thoughts. Ease his burden. Bring Chen-Lin back to me."
If they were confused before, Reece and Elizabeth sure as hell were now. "Excuse me, ma'am?" asked Reece making the woman turn to him. "We're looking for Mrs. Lin."
The woman looked confused. "I am Mrs. Lin. Sarah Lin." she said getting confused looks back.
"No, a little chinese woman. She was here when-"
Elizabeth gently bumped her companion's arm getting his attention. "Reece, this is Mrs. Lin." she said with a lot of meaning in her tone that he had gotten immediately.
Mrs. Lin wiped a tear from her eye before speaking again, "They took Chen's tools. What's he got without his tools?"
"To be honest ma'am, your husband is a bit out of it at the moment." said Reece as gently as he could.
"If...if he could work again, maybe...if-if he could work, he'd-" Mrs. Lin couldn't seem to speak over her grief.
Elizabeth approached the distraught woman and touched her arm. "Mrs. Lin, can you tell us who took your husband's tools?" she asked trying to ease her thoughts so that she could answer them.
"Goddamn police." Mrs. Lin growled lowly. "They took them and locked them up, in the impound in Shantytown." She turned back to the Comstock shrine and began praying again. With nothing else being said the teens began decending the stairs back to the shop.
"Is she right? Would having his tools back fix his mind?" Elizabeth asked when they were out of earshot.
"Who knows. I'm already so far out of my element here that it's not even remotely funny." Reece admitted as they reached the bottom floor. "Regardless, unless we have those guns we can't get out of Columbia. So I guess our next stop is Shantytown. We find Lin's tools, get them back to him and hope for the best."
Heading out into the main shop, Reece had a sinking feeling fill his stomach. They had been ducking and dodging the police the best they could through most of their journey. And now they were walking right into their hands.
"This'll be fun..." he thought bitterly while pulling the bolt back on his rifle as they went back outside.
A/N: Just when things couldn't get any rougher. This could prove to me one of the most challenging parts of their journey since they will be going straight into the lion's den. And with Elizabeth's powers growing ever more powerful, how much more will change?
Update tomorrow guys.
