Final Stage Part 2

"Naomi? Naomi, are you there?" Gwen called out through the closed, and locked doors that represented Cody's sister in her room obviously trying not to see anyone right now, guest or not. The goth stopped short at the doorway where she had seen Naomi standing looking at her for a moment before she retreated as quickly as she appeared, shutting the doors and as Gwen reached for the handles locked it with the key sliding into place essentially cutting her off from the world. Gwen couldn't blame her for it, Naomi suddenly appeared right after the news of Casteon's own grand scheme to let fly some of his makeshift explosives and sure enough, a combination of explosions threw her and Valen off balance to the floor indicating he kept his word: telling them his plan first and then moving in to ensure it never got out to the public, and right now from the wireless radio that Valen had found somewhere in his office they could hear sounds of chaos coming from every station tuned into the action reports of mass fires and grim news of the dam under siege between police and unnamed suspects possibly connected to the bomber's scheme, a voice then appearing on the radio evident as one of Casteon's helpers speaking in a voice disruptor so any emotion in the thrill of the action was cut completely off.

"Citizens of the city, do not be alarmed. If you are hearing this you feel full of turmoil, confused, depressed, and very frightened…fear trickling through your veins as the stages of this whole city fall to ruin is in place. But I ask of you to stand down, resign yourselves to fate and surrender to Casteon who is right in his ways and despite his methods being very unconvincing and destructive, only wishes to cleanse you of your law and order." Gwen and Valen darkly heard the transmission in the office, teeth biting at the announcement over the radio trying to win the people by fear…Casteon had friends on the outside assisting him with the transactions of bombs and now propaganda is spreading over the wide radio networks, which means the stations were taken or worse. Valen couldn't do anything much as he spoke up cutting off the small voice of the radio whispering in the background rubbing his forehead in deep distress. Gwen could stand there helplessly watching the scene, wondering about Cody's own holding against the bomber inside the asylum…her thoughts ran deep with the situation and as well as Valen's worried mutterings went noticed, in fact both parties were unaware of the door opening to hear the same announcement that had taken over the city Naomi peeking in with her hair disorganized by her sleeping, a look of curiosity at the scene and confusion in her eyes. She took a quick glance at the equipment which she had never seen before, the computer was humming loudly and lively while a small radio broadcasted on a simple wooden sidetable the horrific news being spread across the nation, her arrival had come at the worst moment when the announcer of the broadcast was switched to the news reporter's own anxious and worried voice speaking less confidently than before...the fact obviously had occurred to him like many other people that the chaos was spreading faster than anyone could imagine, the stutter of his voice gave away his fear as he tried as Gwen and Valen could imagine fumbling for the script handed to him.

"W-We h-have just received word that the moment this broadcast was sent, huge explosions have been seen tearing down the city's highways down into the large rivers surrounding us, presumably, the bombs were none other than more of Casteon's threats to decimate the city..." The reporter's voice crackled into a low whisper barely audible to hear the words before he let out a frightful conclusion, much to the gloomy looks of three people in their own thoughts.

"Ladies and gentlemen in the city, for what we know, we are finally alone..."

"I hate it...all of it." Gwen stopped rapping the door as she heard sniffles and the croaking of Naomi's voice, the sadness and fear taking the direct toll upon her while Gwen stood still unsure of what to say to the young woman to make her feel better...truthfully, inside Gwen knew that almost nothing can be said. Naomi was cracking, her butler and guest were sneaking in broadcasts of the tragedy unfolding without her knowledge, her brother had gone off to God knows where leaving her alone in her dark room. Afraid. Alone. The dark thoughts were almost making her hurl, like bile eating at her own oblivious nature in rebuke just taunting her with provoking questions...why didn't she prevent her brother from going? Why was she so blind to the tension behind her very back? Even if she did find out, what would she say...even towards Gwen who she had known hardly for a day and already the teal-black-haired woman was trying to see if she was okay like some sort of guardian or a friend, causing another bile-filled thought coursing through her. Who was this woman, who had destroyed Cody's life and sabotage his future dare to talk to her like that...the thought revolted Naomi, yet a small sense of attraction drew her towards the doors as she shuffled out of her position on the bed to walk to the entrance and with a slight hesitation in her movements opened a small crack enough to see Gwen's face.

"I want to talk about Cody and you."

"What did you do?" Casteon's smile was unceasingly and disturbingly fixated in glee and fascination at the sight he had created with the press of the button at his armrest, forcing Cody to look around hopelessly at his very own camping mates jolting and jumping in their chairs, eyes shot upwards beyond their limits to reveal slated white eyeballs stretching towards a God who never answered their prayers of salvation. The angels and demons never even gazed at the sight without a sense of righteous glory as though they had chosen to not intervene in the dark events that would stain the history of the building forever, but Casteon never fazed as he rose from his simple throne of wood and sneered before Cody who could only offer a killer intended gaze towards the criminal, Casteon merely shrugged nonchalantly.

"I was just giving a dose of your hesitation in this matter, do any more and they'll die soon. So why don't you just listen for my own words to place into this matter or you will lose more lives than what I personally arranged for outside the city. Listen." The silent pause with the jolting bodies in the background served it's purpose as echoes of explosions rocketed in the distance, the sirens were ear-shattering outside as Cody could catch a sight of smoke outside the stain glass windows billowing through the sky, his fists shaking in anger and hatred at the man responsible for this utter carnage and slaughter...there was hardly any time left for the people outside, he had to find a window of opportunity to gain the upper hand and fast. Casteon on the other hand could sense the fear, taste it on his lips from his victims soon to be as well as the anger and hatred pure in intent and so damning in its action: Cody is going to kill him, and that was good...he wanted Cody to kill him eventually, to make him pay for the deaths of so many and once he dies Cody will finally be complete in the cycle of hate, mind body and soul.

"Too bad you cannot be so sure of yourself anymore, Cody. I was expecting a better response to your own situation but then again...I have one more game for you, and time is running short for me." Before Cody could even get a suitable answer from him, Casteon moved his hand alerting the detective for any sudden gunfire from the well-armed man...though Cody knew running was useless now, he was unarmed by the man and his pistol was in his possession. Casteon however had other plans, as the man drew the very same weapon disarmed from Cody the bomber smiling broadly while twirling the gun in his hand feeling the power of control over the current events spinning into place, Cody was a mere cogwheel that refused to be put in place...now Casteon will make him know it. Without much warning from him, Casteon flung the pistol at Cody with his might the weapon swirling in a horizontal circular motion towards the detective, the man utterly stunned by the change of luck as he kept his eye on the weapon before he moved to his right, his fingers encased itself into the hair trigger as he moved it to Casteon's general direction aiming for the man's heart.

"You should never give your opponent a fighting chance. This time it's a given to finish you and stop whatever plan you had for this city." At this emboldened statement, Casteon merely chuckled to himself at the irony in that goal...he already had what he came for. Hiding it behind his mask of deception, the bomber merely shook his head lightly at the straightforward mind of the detective blinded by the deaths of so many in one fell swoop...perhaps a weakness to take worthy of in future encounters, the criminal decided to play his final trump as he glared down the look of confidence.

"You haven't forgot our expiring captives have you?" At that second, with Cody barely reacting to the sudden flicker of his arm Casteon pressed another switch on his armchair causing a massive shriek and screaming from the other teammates squirming and pleading in their drowned voices to stop the electrical charges being pumped into their blood. Cody gritted his teeth before he raised the gun to fire into the man's head, but Casteon merely halted any advance with a palm to signal the hot-headed man in his tracks, a wide smirk of victory over his face.

"I'm slowly winning this war, Cody...one way or another. See here, Bridgette has a device implanted in her while she was unconscious which enables...this is amusing, a lesser conductivity of electricity and each wire embedded into her hands are being transferred towards the rest of them who have devices to increase the torture well...you get the idea, don't you?" When Cody didn't give a reply, the bomber continued watching for the intensity emanating from the detective in delight as he confirmed his suspicions.

"That's right Cody, she feels one volt...they get three. And I made sure that the restraints are bulletproof and, oh I don't know, a timer of one minute before she lives with the deaths of her own colleges for the rest of her life."

"And you want me to fucking kill her for you to stop it, don't you?" Cody's voice now echoed with a furious growl, his fists clenching on the pistol almost shaking in anticipation pointed at Casteon who just stood in clear view of his line of fire, he had nothing to fear from the detective...and there was one tiny detail he forgot, beneath his coat as Casteon posed the statement to him again.

"By the by, you kill me and all the bombs go off...so will you risk that, or the waste of another life?" The sentence cut deep into Cody's logical mind, his thoughts arranging itself...in his anger he had forgotten that detail which the man gave away not too long into the night, and a frustration festering inside him grew again. The detective kept his aim at the criminal but his mind was racing for saving his teammates, his eyes darting across for the main controls but the voice of the bomber tore him away from it.

"There is no control panel for this, it's with me to use when necessary." Casteon proving his point, flipped out what was a ball-point pen in his fingertips flicking it between the knuckles of his fingers as a taunt. Cody merely eyed the man intently before he raised his weapon at Casteon again, but his mind told him it was madness to do so...something about the pattern in Casteon's game sounded fishy and Cody needed to confirm that, the weapon trained on the bomber who held the pen tightly in his grip a small flicker of wonderment at what he was planning.

"I think your game is up." Cody spoke harshly before he unloaded the bullets, hitting the bomber at his hand to drop the pen onto the ground as the man retreated back heading for a nearby door to escape the shots, slamming the heavy door in his leave. The detective sprinted after the shots, reaching the pen in time to shut down the entire system as he watched the electrical power fade away with a huge aching groan, Cody noting the release of the bonds to the chairs as the men and women trapped in there sank into their seats still nearing unconsciousness from the treatment. Cody had noticed the bomber going out towards the roof, the detective decided it was best to run after him and call in the reinforcements later to help him take them somewhere safe.

"Cody!" The detective drew his attention towards Crane in the distance who was running into the hall, his arm waving in salute as he reached Cody at the stairs leading to the door where the bomber disappeared to last, the doctor heaved over to breathe deeply from the run as Cody patted the guy on the back to help him relax his tense expression. The doctor was exhausted with his face reddened to the cheeks due to whatever long run he was doing to get here, but with the distance from where he left him in Medical to the current location it was a little unfit but he wasn't here to judge. Crane lifted his head to address the detective who had a much more relaxed face than his, the doctor wondered how he could when he was so stressed and angry a few minutes ago when his eyes turned to the knocked out group in their chairs, a feeling of relief and dread as he turned to Cody questionably.

"Are they...?" Cody shook his head, much to the doctor's own sigh of relief at the statement a calmed expression on his face now that Cody did not take more lives.

"Thank God, I came up here to stop you from doing anything rash...but if you managed to save them then that means you caught up to Casteon?"

"Yes, I'll explain the details later I need to go and settle scores with that nutcase up there. Please take them away from this room and into any of the safe-rooms you can think of, and quickly just in case I don't ever return...also take his laptop over there, it's what he was using to cut off our frequencies before. No doubt he can do it again." Crane nodded as he shifted over to the piece of equipment, tearing out the tubes of wires connected to the computer watching each one shut off the various screens around the asylum via cameras. With one worried glance from Crane the detective knew what he was looking at, Cody gesturing to the doctor to move on towards moving the rest away from the scene before giving a final nod, the detective throwing the door open as he took in a deep salty breath of the ocean just outside.

"So what is Cody to you?"

"Cody...he's a sweet guy, a man who tries to be the perfect gentleman for a girl he sets his sights on. But back then I just thought he was plain and boorish, although I did see him eye to eye in friendship he seemed to have wanted maybe a little more..." The two girls now sat in Naomi's room, their conversation about Cody had gotten far into the relationship field which felt a little awkward and weary for Gwen herself, she could remember the times she constantly humiliated him on international waters and the times he would sit in the confession cam just talking great things about her despite a bruise or a bump during those sessions from her. The idea of Cody being the plain and too perfect of a man had seemed to delude her from his advances, just as though exploring with other men their lives and relationships before coming right around back to the guy who crushed on her longer than anyone else...like a circle. Watching her trail off made Naomi want to prod further into this potential girlfriend of her brother, she had to see her character in order to judge for herself...she couldn't just rely on a television set like Valen told her many times before, this was a judge from the heart.

"Well, what do you mean by that?"

"Nowhere to run, Casteon." Cody spoke out over the roaring wind and rain, the drops covering the whole roof in a barrage of water letting loose as the sounds of rotors and helicopters flew in a circle overhead but cautiously, a light trained on the bomber who stood below them as a sniper trained on the criminal mastermind. Cody saw a flicker of hand-signals enough for him to indicate that the men had him in their sights, and that same confidence he once knew before rose as he moved slowly towards Casteon who turned to face him head on, a darkened expression on his face contrasting to the face he had seen observing their every move ducking and weaning through every card he flung at them, and still here Cody was in his detective splendor without hardly a scratch on his outer armor. The bomber clenched his fists into balls, tightening like iron welds as he addressed his opponent for the final time as he placed down his phone into his pocket, ignoring the men behind him ready to fire as soon as he made a single twitch...he had anticipated and waited patiently for this, but the ending seemed unexpected.

"Why aren't you hurt? You have lost people, close to you in relations...and here you are mocking me with your tough outlook, aren't you fazed at all friend? Is there something I have miscalculated?" His questions were seemingly innocent, his strong tone still evident in him but Cody could pick up a small hint of shock and surprise at his own endurance. Cody took a deep breath, he was going to take this criminal down with an answer...he was never a man to keep much secrets from men who demanded it so, call it a waste of breath or a gentleman's shit talk.

"Easy, I was." He clicked the pistol into place, his aim steadily pointed at Casteon for the final blow. But just as he was ready to pull the trigger, Casteon suddenly broke his frown and into a bright smile just like before stunning the detective by the change in attitude...his aim was slightly taken off but forced it back into the bomber's head. He was about to be arrested, taken into incarceration most likely to be executed by state law and even in the overwhelming odds this madman found the courage, or blind ignorance to have a grin and laugh about killing various people out of random...for no reason.

"It seems you have a strong foundation of character I cannot break, I suppose I've indeed treated you as an ant...feeling so secure in the grasp of the events churning towards this very moment. You are not the first to checkmate me, and certainly not the last." Casteon spoke with a sudden boost of confidence, his hand raised in a signal of someone that Cody had not anticipated as he held onto his grip of the pistol ready to fire into his skull as he yelled out a warning across the rain and wind drenching his hair and clothing.

"Don't you dare move or I'll shoot! Policemen in that chopper are here to secure your arrest!" Before even the last words spilled out, his face turned to a realization of what Casteon was doing as he brought down the hand and shots rang out from the chopper aiming at him. Maybe the rain and wind obscured his words from Cody to make out that there was something wrong with the helicopter supposedly carrying reinforcements to handle the situation, but then he dropped his aim and ran for the nearest cover as bullets zipped across the wet rooftop as the bomber's laughter rang through the air proclaiming a final statement.

"As long as you try and maintain your law and order, I will exist until the end of time!" The detective popped his head out to fire a few shots into the belly of the transport before the return fire hailed upon him like a lead inferno, Cody suddenly cried out in pain as he felt metal meet flesh in his leg and stomach almost feeling like ant bites. The last thing that Cody could remember was the chopper going off into the distance of the wide open ocean, and the rain pattering on his blood-stained coat and shirt pooling across the ground as his thoughts went back to Gwen's sleeping form when he left her, at least happy she didn't know this would happen to him anytime soon.

"Gwen, I'm sorry...I guess I bit my last chew." He said with closed eyes, his hands slipping the pistol into the pool of water and blood.

End

Note: There is an epilogue, so stay put on that very spot people cause I'll end it next chapter! See ya folks

NapoleonVI7