Chapter 14: Worlds crushing down

Lok

"Okay guys… I think we should go to the exit as soon as possible." I said, with a slightly trembling voice when I noticed little camera's on the ceiling.

We ran towards the end of the white hallway, when all of the sudden three suits blocked the way. Two of them I recognized as the ones who had walked pass us earlier.
"This is the end Foundation- scum!" The left one said, and his hands glowed up green.

"I don't think so." Dante said. "Darkfog!"

"Touchram!" The three suits shouted in unison.

Covered by the thick dark smoke we ran back down the hallway, away from the suits, while the spells were flying overhead.

"Follow me!" Zhalia said. "There's one other way out."

We followed her through the labyrinth of hallways, until we reached a small white door. It was locked and I wanted to invoke Springer, but before I had even pulled the amulet out of my pocket Zhalia had already kicked the door down. The room we entered next was to my great surprise the big lab- like hall we had seen in the beginning. While Dante sealed the white door with Stopglue, I looked around. I had the weird feeling something had changed. Of course the lights were on now, but there was more… but what?
Suddenly I saw it. The seven gigantic tube- like machines against the left wall were empty. Well, not exactly empty, the luminous green fluid was still there, but the persons who had been floating in it weren't. My blood curdled in my veins. This can't be a good sign…
Before I could point out to the others that the big creepy suits were gone, the metal door all the way across the hall opened. Five 'normal' suits entered, followed by the seven freaky ultra- big suits. They reminded me a bit of the hulk, because their skin looked slightly green. Never really liked that movie….

"Oh no…" Sophie said. I looked her bright green eyes and saw my own fear reflected in hers. If you counted those hulk- suits as two, it was going to be nineteen against five. I'm not really a math genius but even I could calculate that our odds of winning were very small.

"Great we're outnumbered as hell…" Michael muttered.

"There's no way you can win this fight." One of the suits said. "So if you surrender now, no one will get hurt…"

"No way pal!" Michael yelled.
We all got into battle position, as a sign none of us was going to surrender without a fight.

"Come on guys, we can win this!" I said optimistically.

The suits laughed. "Keep on dreaming little boy!"

The logical- thinking part of my brain agreed with the suits, but in my heart I was convinced that it would be alright in the end. It's going to be alright… it just can't end like this!

"Enforcer!" "Sekhmet!" "Ammit Heart-Eater!" The five normal suits invoked their titans. I wondered why the hulk suits didn't summon theirs. Maybe they couldn't. Or maybe they just don't need them…

I quickly took my titans out of my pocket and invoked Freelancer, Soulwing, and Baselaird, while Michael invoked his Freelancer, Soulwing, and Fireblade.
Sophie had summoned Sabriel, Feyone and Icarus.

"Dante why don't you invoke your titans?" I asked, but as soon the words had left my mouth I knew the answer. "Oh dammit, Klaus has taken them, hasn't he?"

Dante nodded. Anger flashed in his eyes. I knew he couldn't stand his titans were in the hand of that psycho Klaus.
"He has taken mine as well…. But that doesn't mean we can't fight." Zhalia said with an icy voice.

"That's right, get them Freelancer!" Michael yelled, and Freelancer pierced down a Sekhmet. Within seconds the room turned into it a complete chaos of flying spells, people and titans.

I saw Sophie was having trouble with one of the hulk- suits, and rushed towards her to help her.
"Raypulse!" My attack hit the suit right in his face, but he barely seemed to notice, and kept on trying to break Sophie's shield.
"On no you don't…" I muttered. "Bristlevine!" Thorny vines grew out of the floor and wrapped around the suit. He growled furiously and tried to free himself. That will keep him busy for a while…

I ran to Sophie. "Are you okay Sooph?" I asked. She nodded.
All of the sudden another hulk- suit appeared out of nowhere. He hit Sophie with his gigantic fist, and she crushed into the wall.
"Sophie!"

"Augerfrost… " The hulk- suit growled with an inhumanly low voice.

"Armorbrand!" I was just in time, but was still blown a few feet backwards by the power. These suits were unbelievably strong. I rubbed my head und stood up. The suit was standing right in front of me, with an evil grin on his face, ready to finish me. Thankfully Zhalia appeared behind him. She distracted the suit by hitting him with some spell I didn't recognize, and he turned around. He clenched his fists and tried to hit her with all his strength, but she evaded the attack and kicked him in his sensitive parts harshly. The suit fell on his knees woefully, and I laughed. Ha! Even those creeps have a weak spot…!

I remembered Sophie, and ran towards her. She was sitting on the ground, blood streaming out of the wound on the back of her head, but still conscious. I just wanted to help her up when all of the sudden there was a loud clanging sound. The sound of glass breaking. I looked around and saw that the glass of two of the big tube- like machines was broken. The thick, luminous green fluid inside it gushed over the floor. It didn't seem like a very big deal to me, but the suits stopped fighting, with a disturbingly scared look on their face.
"Fuck! One spark and this place will!" One of them yelled. I realized that stuff had to be extremely toxic and highly flammable. I glanced nervously to the increasingly becoming bigger pool on the floor. "Everybody stop fighting!" The suit yelled, but it was already too late.

Fireblade fired a beam of flames towards an Enforcer. A little spark of fire landed on the fluid, and with a deafening bang the world turned into a living hell of fire, smoke, and rock. I grabbed Sophie's hand and closed my eyes, expecting pain and destruction. I vaguely felt somebody pushing us down on the ground. Heat, dust, screaming and energy surrounded me.
And then there was nothing. I was convinced I was dead, but then realized that dead people can't think they're dead. I was still breathing and my heart was still beating, meaning that I couldn't possibly be dead.
I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the floor next to Sophie, with Zhalia half on top of us. We were surrounded by faint glowing blueness. Zhalia had used Armourbrand to protect us against the explosion. We all sat up, trembling, panting and a bit scorched, but still alive.
"W- what happened?" Sophie asked.

I embraced her, and buried my face in her strawberry hair. "It's alright Sooph...we're still alive."
But Dante… Michael… I didn't dare to think of them.

Zhalia called off the shield and we stood up, realizing how lucky we had been to be in the corner off the room, far away from the explosion. The smoke and dust burned off slowly, revealing the remaining's of the hall. It was barely a hall anymore; rather a battlefield of stone and fire. The ceiling had collapsed and the whole floor above this one had crashed down, making an enormous pile of broken stones and god knows what more, meters high.
"Dante... Michael… no!" I couldn't believe it. They couldn't be buried underneath the stones. They couldn't be dead.

Sophie fell on her knees, sobbing, and I felt tears streaming down my face as well. Through the haze of tears I glanced to Zhalia. She was standing there unmoved like a statue, her face an expressionless mask, but with hurt and disbelieve in her with tears filled eyes.
I don't know how long we stood there, maybe minutes, maybe hours, until the sound of moving stone broke the silence. My eyes searched the ravage, looking for a sign of life. But it wasn't the sign I had been hoping for. One of the hulk- suits was struggling to free himself from the broken stones. His face was a half- burned, bloody mess, but he was still alive. And he wasn't the only one. More mutilated suits appeared, like zombies digging their way up from the grave.

Zhalia

We got to get out of here! My survival instinct screamed, but my body wouldn't listen. My heart was torn. The first man, no; the first person I had ever loved, was gone.
You owe it to him! You owe it to them! And that thought was the only thing that kept me from breaking down, and forced me to find a way to escape from this god forsaken place. Not to safe my ass, but to safe theirs. I had to safe Lok and Sophie. I owed it to Dante. Without me they hadn't even been here. Without me he hadn't been here… I bit on my lower lip and suppressed my upwelling tears. I had to be strong for those kids.

"We have to go! Now! This is our only chance!" I grabbed Sophie's arm and pulled her up. She didn't even resist. It was like pulling up a broken doll.
"Lok, come!" I grabbed his arm as well, but he resisted, and tried to pull himself free.

"No!" He cried. "Maybe they're still alive! We have to go search for them!"

"It's too late Lok, they're dead! The suits are coming! We have to go!" I dragged him and Sophie towards the white door. Well it wasn't exactly a door anymore; the explosion had faded it away almost completely. What was left of it was burning.
I dragged Sophie and Lok through the half- ruined, with dusk filled hallways. It was hard to breathe, my clothes were burned and torn, I had bruises everywhere, and I heard a constant tweet in my ears (probably hearing loss caused by the explosion), accompanied by the loud beeping of the lab's alarm system. But I kept going like a machine, a robot. I had turned off all my emotions, all my pain, and dragged Lok and Sophie through dozens of hallways, until we reached the stairway. It was thankfully entirely made of metal, and therefore still intact. I climbed the stairs with Lok and Sophie on my heels.

We went two floors up, until we reached a heavy door. I pushed it open, and we entered a dark room that looked like living room. Apart from some cracks in the walls, floor, and ceiling, it was completely intact. I looked at Lok and Sophie. Their faces were dull and beaten. "Okay umm…" I tried to think but it felt like my brains were fried. "I've got to get you away from here… how did you-"

The sound of somebody clearing his throat interrupted me. I didn't even have to turn around to know who standing behind me.
"Klaus…" I whispered, and I turned around. Lok and Sophie gasped for breath.

He was standing in front of the big windows. The backlight of the night- sky and the pool lights made him look like nothing more than a dark, faceless shadow.
"Zhalia, Zhalia… I'm disappointed." He said with a hoarse voice. "You blow up my lab… destroying my research; my life work… And you think you can just walk out like this?" He laughed. "No, you're going to pay, and those bold teenagers who have sneaked into my house as well."

"You leave them alone!" I yelled. "They've done no harm to you."

"I'll decide about that." He said. "By the way, where's Dante Vale?"

Klaus saying his name felt like a burning knife was being pierced through my heart. "He- he's dead." I tried to say the words as emotionless as I possibly could.

"Well that's the only good news of tonight…."

I hated Klaus so much I saw a red gaze in front my eyes. I wanted to rip him apart piece by vicious piece.

"But I think I'm going to enjoy your death even more…" He said.

"Lok, Sophie, go, I'll keep him busy." I said, without taking my eyes of Klaus.

"B- but Zhalia, you can't defeat him all by yourself." Lok said.

"I know, but we probably can't defeat them with the three of us either." I said.

"No! Zhalia, we're not going to leave you behind!" Lok yelled.

"Come on Lok." Sophie said, and she grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the door.

"But Sophie, she'll die…" Lok said.

"She knows." Sophie said.

"How touching." Klaus growled. "But you're not going to leave either! Poisonfang!"

"Armourbrand!" I jumped in front of Sophie and Lok. "Leave, quick!" I yelled, and Lok and Sophie disappeared into the hallway. I exhaled relieved. They would find a way to get out. They would survive. But Dante hadn't, and neither had his other brother. I'm so sorry Dante…

"You're not my daughter anymore." Klaus said murderously.

"I've never been…" I whispered, and I smiled a little bitter laugh. I finally knew what meant to be ready to die.

-
Mwuhaha cliffhanger! xD
I hope this chapter didn't depress you… it kind of depressed me to be honest :/
So what do you think, are D and M really dead? And what will happen to Zhalia?

Please review sweet readers! Then I'll give you a virtual cookie…. No, even better; a virtual chocolate cake! :D