Awake Already, Save the Bookworm

Previously on Asylum Wars…

Cody, a detective of cold hatred with much of his hate running in the roots stretching right back to the show that ruined his life with reality mess-ups is currently destroying remnants of his past by being a devoted cop of high caliber which is an asset for the local police department. An arrest warrant and sentence of the 'Bomber of Fleet Street', Amos Casteon has resulted in the bombing of innocent lives at a street and he has started to activate his most deadly scheme ever: to blow up the city sky high with 200 bombs but 79 are placed at places of important people and other innocent lives are put on the line with random bombs in their homes. Cody has met Gwen who he relives his own love for her, and now she is left confused about her own feelings for the person who stood by her for years…however, Casteon has other ideas with Cody.

Cody's world started to come to itself, the moonlight was the first source of light that fell on the spot where he was his eyes blurred by the aftereffects of the stun gun that hit him right into the chest…the stun gun, Casteon's smiling face in his vision coming clearly to him when the shock seeped into his system instantly brought the thoughts falling in place. How…wait, stun gun, Casteon…Casteon! He shocked me with the stun gun, and then I was at the entrance when he hit me and I passed out…the detective pulled his mind together despite the echoing buzz just passing through his brain cells, eyes scanning the whole abandoned room around him completely different from the entrance hall, the moonlight was shining from a circle of glass windows along with the large hall replaced by a tight constriction of space with bookcases suddenly surrounding him in a huge circle with a red embrodied carpet to fill the whole floor. The books filled the shelves right to the end, covered with pages or covers of all ages, clean fresh paper stood beside their ancestral counterparts of differing knowledge and there was no sign of dust on them which showed the extensive maintenance taken into consideration when the library was concerned brought some sort of respectful comments in the detective about the tidiness of the place on the inside had he been here as a cleanliness inspector. Cody now turned his head in inclination towards the roof where he noticed the spirals of bookcases that towered over him, hands jiggling against some rope that bound him to the chair as the cop started to curse his own carelessness for causing himself to be captured when he was the city's hope with the number one reason being the fact Cody was the only highly intellectual in the force put together making him the best choice besides…well, him. The one thing that caught his attention was that he wasn't even alone, still breathing was heard from behind as the detective could just strain his neck to even turn without the pain in his head amplify by a few times worse the initial shock his eyes widened to see the familiar dark hair and although the clothing was more casual than the past, Cody just gulped nervously at the one person he did not want to fall to the bomber.

"Noah…oh god, what has he done to you?" A deep chuckle formed from above him as he glared upwards towards the figure of the criminal smiling broadly at the two friends, his hands crossed behind his back as the mastermind watched onlooking them like insignificant ants beneath his gaze. Cody just struggled with the bonds that held his hands to the chair, eyes narrowed and teeth grit in anger grinding some together at the very presence of the man as the video feed earlier came back to him and the feelings came back as Cody spoke harshly in a dark tone while continuing his battle with the rope.

"Casteon." He spat the name out in pure hatred; the criminal on the other hand felt a gleeful smile escape him as he eyed the anger directed at him: it was so intense with the eye contact, the feeling of a life-threatening glare told him a contrasting story of what the stare did to him. The same exhilarating feeling came right around to him like a loop, his face turning quite serene as he spoke in a menacing tone to the detective while the bookworm was still knocked out cold giving some signs of waking up.

"Awake already, are you? Doesn't matter now anyways; hope you enjoyed my welcome present for you…sorry if I had to do that to you. Psych! I didn't care how you suffered, but really I hope you rested well and are ready for some real fun." Casteon replied the glare with his own sadistic words, Cody giving a demonic glare back in retort at the bomber.

"If you're talking about shooting me in the chest with the stun gun and shocking me like hell, then that would really make me want to kill you so bad when I get my hands on your slimy collar." Casteon laughed heartily at the dare, his fingers just tapped and drummed repeatedly on the railing of the level he was on smiling at the detective fidgeting in his seat before his eyes laid on the restless body of Noah still slumped in his seat head hung down from the chop to his neck and the beating Casteon had given him a few minutes earlier. The whole ordeal was so satisfying, punching and cracking the man's legs and arms to ensure he could not even escape from what he was about to dish out on the two contestants for his very own game of cat and mouse while the bookworm kept on pleading through bruised lips and bloodied face beaten brutally but the bomber didn't stop there…in fact, words could not describe how amusing and energizing the torture was for Noah who now bore the scars of that beating with his legs almost sliding onto the floor like a cesspool of flesh whereas his face though not raised was covered in blood trails that led to his white shirt staining it red from the collar down covering a smiley face logo on the front. His breathing was slow but let Cody know that his best friend was still alive, which brought some relief to his heart however the silence was soon cut by a sharp distinct ticking noise nearby sending a shiver for the detective who simply widened his eyes and ears, twitching at the source of the sound to the other side of the room as his head followed the noise to the end of the circular room where standing right before the two were three gas tanks with a strange hissing emanating from the direct sealed pipes which to Cody's absolute horror was not covered securely and left open to the air around them, the detective started to put the pieces into his mind running a dreaded picture of what was about to happen to them soon as the ticking noise began to clock louder, much to Casteon's amusement who looked upon the sweating face of the detective a large smirk painted on his face.

"Oh, yes…tick tock, tick tock. The whole place is starting to feel like a life and death situation, isn't it? Aren't you already hearing it, the exhilaration of the hissing gas of flammable petrol pouring into the room and slowly choking you and your friend…your eyes start to water and swell up in the almost uncontrollable way, the air wearing thin as time runs and flies like a birdie. Tick tock, tick tock…so much death in so little time." The bomber chuckles, Cody couldn't even put words to describe the sadistic and mad nature of his opponent as he merely gave a death glare at the criminal with a threatening tone blackened by the burning rage inside from his own disregard of human life.

"You are sick." He insulted the bomber only to be brushed off by the criminal's shrug of his armored shoulders as he reached into the depths of his pocket, grabbing ahold of something before he brought it out to Cody where the detective looked upon the glance of a lighter hanging over him and Noah's heads. He coughed slightly, the gas pollution was small right now but the detective knew that if he was to continue wasting his time here both him and Noah would be immolated by the poisonous gas, his arms struggling to the pockets of his coat which held if he was not mistaken the key to saving them from such a horrific fate as the bomber's voice thundered over the scene walking around the circle like a predator watching his prey slowly perish before his eyes.

"Oh, I believe that everyone is sick. Think about it: you and the show, how the people treated you so badly and how they looked down upon you…trying to forget so hard, but then Gwen shows up into your life once again." Cody's eyes instantly bulged at the sentence as his ears perked up to the name of his crush, his face looking right up at Casteon who faced his doomed opponent to the hilt with that same sadistic expression over his facial features, his teeth even glinted in the moonlight as he flipped the lighter in the air catching it in a vice grip not willing to let it fall onto the ground below as he just went on aware the detective was listening intently.

"Gwen showed up at your house today, at the afternoon where you went out to fetch her from the cold rain and then you called in the servant who answers the door for guests before shutting the door. It really gives me such pleasure, that how I can fit into a crowd and be normal when I am a social heretic for all that law and order stands for…ironic, but very useful for me to exploit. Also, three months ago I heard the name being mentioned to me in the car by some annoying female and a punk…Courtney and Duncan, I believe. They were never quiet even in the show, weren't they?" Cody could not utter a chain of words at the facts being tossed right in his face, his fingers still digging into the pockets as the bomber gave the account of the encounter accurately…if that was the case, then that meant he was close to Gwen for the entire time during her trip there in the cab as none other than her driver, same could be said for Courtney and Duncan who he had kidnapped too! Shit, then if he knows the place already he can just blow up the place and kill two birds with one stone…that means I have to find that knife, fast! The detective's thoughts were racing along with his heartbeat, a concern for Gwen's safety now rose in his mind as her life also being threatened put him in a serious pitfall…he felt his fingers close in on the knife as the bomber started to yawn sheepishly over the hissing gas starting to choke Cody's lungs, the air tightening its vice grip sending him close to the edge of the cliff to darkness his eyes were a little blurred as he watched the bomber give a wave of his hand as though he were sweeping the suspicion away.

"Don't worry, I won't kill her…yet. Besides, I haven't even put a bomb in your place truthfully. But right now, I have more important things to attend to right away, some changes will be installed around here…have a slow and painful death to accompany you Cody. See you." He spoke tauntingly, his hands leaving the metallic rails and he turned to walk down the hallway towards the door, Cody could hear the man slam it shut before he went back to work digging through the pockets but eventually after some initial difficulty the detective hooked his grip on the hilt of his personalised army knife safely out of his pocket, the weapon always stuck with him through thick and thin in life and death situations like these. The detective knew right away that this was one of those days when he had signed up for dangerous tasks like this by the force, who were always willing and ready to challenge their recruits by putting them in unexpected situations that happened in some of the rare police cases when criminals were still out on the loose going on rampages and such…heck, Cody once brought down a serial killer that began in America's northern states for close to a month before the manhunt started to become clear that he was crossing the border to Canada. The detective could recall the time that they were thrown off by the killer's normal behavior and let him through, which was a grave mistake that he and the police department paid for in the price of five people's lives with gas let off in their homes killing them not from the burst of flames that followed but the immolation of the poisonous gas choking them to death…something the cop wanted to avoid for his best friend to face with, and he can't give up the city and Gwen to such a monster. The knife started to put its blade at the rope hovering over his wrists, Cody knowing fully well that the slightest mistake with the sharpened blade and it would slit his wrists resulting in his death by bleeding but he slowly cut away at the rope, the suffocating feeling was starting to get to its intensive with the gas starting to leak faster as on some horrible twist of fate cutting off more oxygen by the second as the detective started to feel his heart swell and panic as the heartbeat began going off the charts while frantically telling its lungs no doubt to acquire as much oxygen as possible, Cody swore as he heard Noah choke as well in his unconscious state before he continued cutting at a quicker pace. The grip on the knife hilt started wavering as fingers twitched and started to twist and the inside of the skin started going blood red from the pressure, the detective could just yell at the bomber now for this fate as he cut away until he could not slice anymore the knife falling to the ground with a clink while Cody watched the rope at its last few strands. With the last hope lying at his feet with his fingers too drained and numbed by the strangulation of oxygen, the detective could just push his chair towards the knife through using his legs to slowly guide him there however Cody's vision was fading fast as his shoes stamped on the blade as a last resort before his lungs were on fire, closing his eyes shut for that sleep he was about to be given watching the last of the oxygen he had left devoured by the seeping gas immolating them soon. However, the moment was stopped by a loud clang as metal met the floor and Cody could hardly even open his eyes wide enough to see but he could make out the figure of a lean man with a gas mask dressed in a suit with a blue tie and white shirt covered by a black jacket along with pants, the man staring right into Cody's blank eyes before he moved towards the gas tanks which were leaking profusely and his hands rested on the tanks taking something from his pocket but at that time Cody blacked out not too sure if the man would be his savior or his killer.

Edward Crane plugged the entrance of the hissing tanks with the removed rubber tubing that was lying on the ground with its metal locks unhinged as he quickly twisted them into place, but not before he slapped two gas masks on the faces of the two young men he saw in the library which would help them survive the deadly gas. He noticed when one of the young men stared at him blankly pleadingly to save him, and Edward caught sign of a distinct police department badge with the words 'Detective' on it which told the man enough information to who they were, going right to work by taking two gas masks on his targets of rescue before stopping the gas leak. Edward finally relaxed as he heard the hissing stop short in its deadly track, his attention instantly turned to the young officer and the hostage grabbing them one by one shaking them violently by the shoulders trying to get them to wake up, the detective was the first one to stir but Edward could not wait as he quickly slapped the gas mask to get the officer's attention as Cody shot up from his black nightmare, hands going to his face when he noticed how black it was except for the eyes before he felt the lining of a gas mask that he turned to acknowledge his savior who pointed to Noah still knocked out from the torture, Cody immediately sprung into action while the mysterious man ran down the hall opposite them and stopped at a door where he reached into his chest pocket rummaging for an item before the sound of another entrance opened as the man took out a small card, slotting the black code through the system getting a green light from the machine in allowance. The door hissed open as the two heard the distinct voice of the bomber who just spoke to no one but himself while he stared down at the empty chairs and he also noting the fact no hissing noise of escaping gas was heard, his hands now going for his lighter and raised it over the spiraling column of gas still hanging and polluting the air inside.

"Well, seems like you have some ingenuity in you Cody. I must stress how good you are at escapes, but then what to do with this whole space of flammable gas? We cannot have all this preparation go to waste...Oh well, I have the perfect idea how to make such good use of it…" He spoke tauntingly as he thumbed the gear of the lighter, flicking the sparks in amusement before he tossed the lighter with the flame still burning bright into the abyss of gas as Casteon made a quick escape from the opponents, slamming the door behind him while Cody and Edward shut the exit door seeing a lighter falling into view as the metal barrier shielded them from the blast. The two felt a blast of air as the windows nearby blew into pieces scattering glass all over the whole place watching the display of fireballs roaring out into the air like a dragon's breath, swallowing metal and brick with its roasting hot sears for a second before it disappeared mysteriously as it came. Sighing in relief, Cody removed his gas mask to take in the sweet breath of oxygen refilling his lungs with the natural life-support consuming as much air as he could until the detective was satisfied before he turned to the man who had saved them but instead of resting, Edward was kneeling right beside Noah's slumped body placing two fingers at the neck for a pulse without having time to remove the mask on his face. Cody remembered his best friend as he knelt down next to Edward who withdrew the fingers from the jugular, a hand digging into the underside of his gas mask tugging it off like a hat peeling it off his face and threw it to the floor ruffling his hair back into its proper place, the detective looked at the neat hair that seemed to spike out at the ends on both sides in a consistent pattern with dark pools for eyes which sent some sort of chilly vibes but the man managed to save both of them from a gruesome death so he should be thanking them as he stretched out his hand to the man.

"Thanks for saving us back there." He said while scratching the back of his head, the man looked at him for a second and smiled as he took the hand in gratitude as both of them stood up observing Noah still knocked out on the floor leaning on the wall for support. Cody now turned with concern to the young man, surviving a beating like that to cause much bloodshed was something that the detective could not shake from his mind, a feeling of anger boiled in his stomach as he asked the question Cody dreaded to ask the man.

"How's Noah?" The man frowned deeply at the unconscious young adult with some feeling of pity for him, he had noticed the injuries back at the room but little time to check it though a nagging feeling scared him…now when he had time to see the injuries' extent it didn't bode well as he reluctantly gave his evaluation.

"Your friend is very unfortunate. Head trauma in five different areas of the brain, it could lead to further brain hemorrhaging or even worse internal damage to the cells that may land your friend in a mental institution if not treated. The bad news hasn't stopped there; he has his lower jaw dislocated, which is not too serious, but the second major damage is not physically but psychologically. He was tortured seriously by Casteon, see the fingernails?" Cody checked it carefully; his eyes scanned the hand of his friend but found nothing on the palm and flipped it right over to show his fingernails before he let out a shocked yell dropping the limp flesh onto the concrete floor unable to say anything as Edward nodded gravely. What were his fingernails was replaced by an empty fleshy mound which had the indention of where the fingernails once inserted nicely was torn right off, the root of the fingers of flesh holding the nail was curled back without any hard surface to cling onto as the blood dried up still showed the intense bleeding that occurred by the fact the whole of the fingers were dipped right in the red liquid now forming a layer on top, sickening the detective who covered his mouth almost ready to puke at the pain he must have suffered besides the beatings. The image burned right into Cody's mind while Edward observed the man for other sort of surprises, his eyes scanning the swollen face not black and blue in color with some considerable force put into it to really make the man suffer…something the bomber must have wanted from him perhaps, he wouldn't stoop that badly to torture unless the person was uncooperative or otherwise. While Edward mused over this, he heard Cody's swearing quietly under the silence as the man turned to the detective and addressed him with his name first, rather he introduce himself or be called John Doe.

"My name is Dr. Edward Crane, a skilled practitioner in the art of psychology and being a chemist in labs before I ended up with my career here right at the asylum. I have been studying the workings of the inmates and so far I ran into little resistance for all the asylum's credit and reputation is worth, but now a madman has put himself in charge of the building trapping me here with some of the employees…they're all dead, if you must know. Killed by the bomber himself when he strode into the offices firing all over the place, hitting them from left and right though some of us escaped the massacre only to find he just released the patients here along with the armories being open for access to patients. I have managed to connect to some of the asylum's computers and noted the insane are mostly armed with guns." Edward introduced himself to Cody, who listened to the bad news that seems to be on some never-ending list of bad luck, first the asylum had just been taken over by the bomber who has killed more innocent people before he came over where the detective had a feeling the criminal had chosen the time when security was at its low and the new fact into his already tough job, patients are armed to the teeth with all sorts of weapons that somehow he couldn't even believe for a second a mental institution's use for such dangerous items. The doctor immediately understood the look aimed at him before he arranged his tie, pulling it side to side as he spoke again with caution choosing his words speaking slowly enough for the detective to hear it clearly.

"The patients can sometimes become very, how should I say…uncooperative with our activities. But enough about that, I would suggest that we go on to the medical treatment section of the asylum first…dead weight always leads to dead men." Edward spoke as he walked towards the exit door, waiting for Cody who had knelt down and picked his friend up on his back clasping his arms over his shoulders for support while he grabbed the young man's legs careful not to hit anything else vital, the smell of dried blood fresh in his nostrils as he walked out the door with the doctor in tail.

Casteon eyed the screen right outside the library in the safety of his hideout, the sounds of moaning patients and groans from victims of mad slaughter were heard…for the bomber it was the perfect utopia for keeping an eagle eyed vision over his soon to be dead waste in the graveyards, yelling and screaming kicking their feet in pain at his tortures…so tranquil and soothing. His eyes fell on the recent screen where the library exit was, his view intent on the newcomer in his game…and a doctor who kept so many secrets of the asylum no less. Cody was tense, smart but all the more stupid than the criminal lone wolf could ever hope for…friends and unusual acquaintances he met here will soon lead to the downfall of him instead of the intended help he expects, especially this Edward Crane sounds just like another suspicious character to be examined for any weaknesses or, the bomber smiled broadly as he hacked into the asylum's own personal staff record typing in the name he heard over the camera recordings watching the screen go dark covered with a search engine of names circulating for its target.

A doctor with a possible secret…this asylum is starting to perk my interest.

End