Chapter 26~

To Save Us All

C and D decided to just make a run for it. The beast was turned away from them, and they couldn't just leave F there. C grabbed his younger brothers hand and dashed from their hiding place, headed straight for the building F was sitting in, her face still poking between the crack, though still only revealing her crazy knowing smile.

They tried to be as silent as possible, but of course their tiny gears had to whirr, and their wooden feet had to pound on the worn concrete. Yet, thankfully, the only attention they attracted was F's, who only flinched at the new sound. The beast was too far off, roaring it's black heart out.

Driven by fear and some form of adrenaline, the two pushed themselves toward F, looks of fear overtaking their once innocent faces.

F looked up as they dove into the crack, glomping her and clinging to her, waking her up from her trance-like state.

"N-no!" she cried weakly, scrambling under their shaking bodies. "M-must help kill it! Mustn't care about me!"

The two got up from what was once their mother figure, their bodies still shaking in terror at what they had just accomplished. They clung to each other instead, but still payed attention to what F was saying.

She looked terrified- like they had just done something horribly wrong. She was flailing her arms toward them, her optics were wide with terror, and she was screaming nonsense, accompanied occasionally by actual words.

"Go! Go!!" she whispered frantically, shaking them by their shoulders. "It will work! It will work!!"

C and D, both beyond confused, could only stare at her for a moment longer before dashing back out of the hiding place, pushed by F. The beast still hasn't turned around, for it was far off now, fighting with 7, 8, and G. The two could see the battle happening, and shook with fear they had to get rid of.

What had F meant? What was going to work? Did it have to do with their purposes?

To Trap It. To Emprison It.

How would they trap that thing?

The two brothers, still shaking, looked at each other with confusion. How could they trap that huge beast?

They looked back at F, who was watching them through the crack, and raised their eyebrows.

F smiled gently, motioning for them to come back. When they were close enough for her to whisper, she helped them out.

"The sister. Take down the sister."

9 frowned at 5, knowing what he meant exactly.

When 9 turned, to ask 6 how it all would happen, he blinked and missed it.

6 had dashed out of the hiding place, sprinting straight for the tunnel that led to the factory's innards. 9 gasped, and would have called out for 6 to come back, but it was too late, he was too far.

1 was the next to go, leaving his cape, hat, and staff behind as he propelled himself out with 6, also headed for the tunnel. The twins flickered for a second before joining them, and 9 was left with 5, who smiled teasingly at him before dashing out himself.

Shocked, and confused as hell, 9 dashed out himself, his optics trained on the tunnel, knowing he had to keep running.

1 was the first to get caught by a monster, snatched right off the ground and clenched in it's teeth, ripped to pieces like the doll he was to a dog. He didn't make a sound. 9 kept his optics focused on the tunnel, which 6 was disappearing into now.

He had to keep running.

The monsters advanced on them, blocking their path's by skidding to a hault right in front of them, snatching up 3 and 4, who flashed their optics in horror. Their monsters dropped them, squealing hatefully with the blinding light.

There was something about that squeal... It seemed to pulsate, like a signal of some sort...

9 kept running.

5 made it in next, and then the twins, albeit injurred now. 5 grabbed 4, held her in his arms, and dashed further into the factory, instructing 6 to do the same with 3.

9 kept running.

He made it in at last, but he knew it wasn't enough. He had to keep running until he got right in front of that red eye he himself had reawoken.

9 kept running. He surpassed 5 and 6, who each held a twin, and kept running. His legs were going numb from the sudden streinuous running, and his feet burned like they were on fire, but his eyebrows were furrowed in concentration and determination to fullfill his destiny.

And soon enough, he found himself in the air, having made a flying leap out of the pipe and landing gracefully enough on the ground, his optics searching for the B.R.A.I.N.

It's horrible back was turned toward him, and it was in the process of making something horrfying. But 9 wouldn't let it finish.

5 and 6 had paused when 9 had long surpassed them, 5 immediately going into medic mode and laying 4 gently down in the pipe. 6 didn't seem to mind that 4 was injurred, and watched after 9, an uncertain look on his face, as if he had never really known what would happen at this point.

"Hush, 4, it'll be over soon." 5 said as he took her hand. He had looked her over and decided it wasn't critical, but the poor twin did look in aweful pain. His other hand reached past his shoulders to his back, where his day pack should be.

But it wasn't there. He had left it in the Balloon.

7 lashed out with her spear, diving out of the way of the beasts swipes gracefully, her skullmet down and her entire body in fighting mode. G was the same, mirroring 7's movements on the beast so it would confuse it. 8 was currently on the floor, a huge gash in his side and a pained expression on his face.

7 was agile, swift, focusing her weight on the top half of her feet instinctually, graceful as a bird in flight. Her skullmet was down, ready. The look on her face was fierce, protecting, determined.

As she launched herself at the mechanical monster, the beast swiped her away with it's right claw, therefore focusing all of its attention on her at that moment. G would take that fraction of a second and run at it, his knife blade sticking out and aimed for it's head.

The lesson he learned soon after was that the human skull is hard to break with a simple knife, no matter how decayed and fleshy it looked.

7 watched as G went at it, trying to get on it's back so it he could get to the wires in it's neck, as 7 had told him was the B.R.A.I.N's pattern. She turned back to where the trench was, the gaping hole in the ground they were trying to get the beast in. They were still maybe an hour from getting it in if they moved at this pace, and 7 knew they couldn't last that long fighting this thing. She was already panting hard, though every fiber in her body was still screaming at her to fight.

How could they trap it if it wasn't going to cooperate?