As Susan began to fall, Big Brother tried to catch her, only to be shot in the shoulder. As the two fell over the side, Big Brother threw his cable out onto a nearby tree stump. The stump nearly tore out of the ground from the intense weight it had to deal with, but Big Brother was able to keep himself from going over the edge. But he was in a predicament. His good arm was holding onto Susan, leaving him to slowly begin to lose his grip on the cable. To add to it, the strap of his gun, Big Ol' Bertha, had been hit as well and tore free from him and fell into the water below.
"Fontain must have thought that you were quite the hazard to his plans if he had to try and put you away. From what I heard, he succeeded for a time." The man who shot Susan was wearing a refitted Big Daddy suit. His body had been altered to fit inside, something that Big Brother had hoped would never happen to anyone again. But even with these alterations, the man inside was no Big Daddy.
"He was able to lock you away where you wouldn't interfere. But since you're standing here before me, my half-brother has failed miserably in the end. He was always the greedy one, never able to see the big picture. He had the power to create gods among men, yet all he could see was their money. Unlike him, I, Martin Fontain, won't fall for such things. I will remake this world in my image!"
Big Brother didn't care, he was about to pull Susan back up when another bullet hit his other shoulder. He slipped and the two nearly went over, but he used all of his might to keep them up.
"Oh, we can't have that, now can we? From the looks of you both, it would be best to be rid of you two now."
Susan looked up into Big Brother's panicked eyes as she started to slip out of his grasp. When his grip onto her arm slipped to her hand, he groaned for her to pull herself up. But she was had lost too much blood from the wound in the side of her chest. Big Brother didn't know what kind of bullet it was, but it's work was done. The glow in her eyes was beginning to fade as she was slowly dying. His grip slipped again and he lost his footing. While he kept his grip on the cable, his grip on Susan nearly failed. He was holding on for dear life as she was slipping from his grasp.
Susan flashed him a smile, one that would be forever etched into his memory, and let go.
Big Brother roared as loud as he could but there was nothing he could do as she dissapeared under the surface. He hung there for several seconds, hoping to see her reappear. But she never came. As he pulled himself up, Fontain walked up to him and pointed his pistol at Big Brother's head.
"It's not good business if your opposition is still around. It's nothing personal, but my world will be filled with new gods, meaning the old ones will have to die." With that, he pulled the trigger. "What?"
The man couldn't believe his eyes. Big Brother was still there, a look of such intense hatred in his eyes. And there, right in the middle of his forehead, was the bullet, stuck in his skin. The man unloaded the gun at point-blank range, but each shot stuck to his head. Big Brother shook himself and the bullets fell at the man's feet.
"How can this be? What the hell are you?"
"I...am...Big...BROTHER!" was his responce as he brought his fist down with such force that he shattered a fair portion of the cliff face. While Big Brother fell, Fontain was surprisingly quick and leaped back in time to be caught by a man larger than even the Panzer Fausts.
Big Brother hit the surface and let himself sink as large chunks of stone looked like they would become his grave. But as he was about to let himself go, to just close his eyes and end his suffering, he felt gentle hands take hold of his head.
Then came a scream that the water could never silence.
When it hit his ears, he opened his eyes and found himself looking into Susan's glowing eyes. The light was dim, but she still lived. The ocean was their world outside of Rapture, it was how they survived where others would have perished long ago.
Big Brother knew what had to be done and roared like he never did before.
They came like rolling thunder from a cloud of deep crimson. Three dozen Big Daddies of different kinds, many of the Bouncers carrying a Big Sister on his back, came charging through the water. The Big Sisters were using their Telekinesis to 'push' the water back and form a tunnel for the Big Daddies to travel through. They didn't care about the reason why they were here. They came and knew exactly where to go.
As they broke through the surface, the Big Sisters stayed behind to form a bubble around Big Brother and their fellow sister. When one of the Big Daddies, one of the Alpha Series, suddenly fell back into the water, a Big Sister swam up to him and the two dissapeared in a crimson cloud. But when one of the Landkruezers came down, the Sisters used their Telekinesis to hurl him back out.
Above the surface, the fight was nothing but pure chaos as Big Daddy fought the bigger Landkruezers. But even with all the modifications done to them, they were merely mockeries of the Big Daddies. The Landkruezers only had size on their side, but the Big Daddies had endurance, strength, and the will to fight like hell until all of their enemies were dead.
A Bouncer charged and planted his shoulder into the gut of one, while an Elite Bouncer hit the same target from behind. The Landkruezer was dropped like a stone as the two left him to look for new targets.
Three Rosies stood back, firing their rivet guns at the taller Landkruezers, their height becoming their disadvantage. While this was happening, the Alpha Series were working together by ramming themselves into their targets, igniting their elemental abilties on impact. Flashes of fire, ice, and lightning exploded, but the Big Daddies were strong enough to survive.
Then a stray rocked blew up a tree as a Rumbler missed his target. But he took aim again and blew the Lankruezer to pieces. He fired a couple more rockets before tossing a mini-turret on the ground, which added more confusion as it starting shooting away. Then things got a whole lot worse for the larger men when a trio of Lancers decided to go after those fighting on the edges of the battle. Their ion lasers made quick work of their targets as they concentrated their firepower.
This was how they were built, this was their purpose, and right now, they were defending Big Brother. They didn't care that he wasn't one of their Little Sisters, they didn't need to care. They would fight for as long as it would take because he was Big Brother, he was the first. They were built to be like Big Brother, the only one who ever had control over ADAM.
Martin Fontain couldn't believe what he was seeing. All of his creations were being destroyed by these freaks of nature. Though they were big, they shouldn't have had this much strength and drive. All he could think of was that his half-brother had been keeping secrets from him. Now his soldiers were paying for it!
As one of the Landkruezers fell at his feet, he decided it was about time for him to leave. Fontain threw on his diving helmet and ran. He didn't care about where he would go from here, only that he survived. All of this would not matter if he survived. He would leave his massacre and live on to rebuild.
After twenty minutes of straight running, he found himself at the edge of the ocean. He looked out into the water and thought he saw something in the distance, something red...
Without warning, he was lifted into the air and pulled into the water. Two smaller beings swam around him, holding him in place with some kind of power. He didn't know what was happening, only that he couldn't move.
Then they began to scream, a sound that echoed in his helmet. He cried in pain as his ears felt like they were about to burst. But then it all stopped and he was released. He didn't know what was happening, but he figured that this was his chance to get away.
Little did he know, the form of Gil Alexander was swimming up behind him. He could smell the strange ADAM Fontain had put into his body and wanted to have a taste.
The last thing Martin Fontain seen was a set of jaws coming at his face.
When the Battle was done and all of the Landkruezers were dead. Big Brother had the Big Daddies and Big Sisters collect all the bodies. He had them put them into a pile and set them ablaze. The heat was so intense that there was no biological remains left. Everything was turned to ash and molten slag. There was to be no traces of ADAM left on the surface.
Then he had the group all gather around him as he teleported them all back to Rapture. This was to be his final day on the surface, so he took a long hard look out across the ocean towards the setting sun. As it set on this day, so did it set on the existence of Rapture. This was going to be the last time he would ever see it. But there was something more important than that.
He turned his eyes to Susan, who was weak and pale in his arms. The bleeding had stopped, but she wasn't about to make a recovery. Big Brother gathered all the power he could muster and everyone vanished from that spot on the shattered cliff. He left the light of the surface and dove into the darkness as everyone reappeared inside Rapture.
Big Brother merely had to nod his head and the Big Daddies went to work. Each of them worked together to dig out the glowing biomass that had started everything here. Then the Big Sisters gathered all the ADAM slugs and put them in sacks to be burned.
Susan was getting weaker by the hour, but contact with Big Brother, her savior, kept her going. She looked into his eyes and smiled when she saw the one he already wore on his face. Once the slugs were dealt with and the biomass carried into the room, Big Brother knew that it was finally going to end.
As the Big Daddies and Big Sisters gathered around, Big Brother tapped into his last and final power. He opened his senses and listened to the dying heart that was Rapture's generators. He could feel their power still pulsing through the city. He reached out, touched them, and felt their power.
With a single motion, he tore out Rapture's heart, ending it's life. Without power, there would be nothing to recycle the air and keep it flowing. But he didn't care, for he had one of the Big Daddies punch a hole in one of the outer doors. As the water touched his feet, it quickly turned to ice.
None of the Big Daddies or Big Sisters complained as the ice overtook them, freezing them where they stood. The ice flowed over Big Brother, but reached out to form a sphere around him, Susan, and the biomass.
He sat there, his back trapped in ice, as he watched Rapture slowly fill with water. Then he touched the biomass, feeling the strange warm it gave him the first time he ever touched it. He could feel it's power flowing into him, but there was nothing left for it to change. So he unleashed this power, causing all of Rapture to become encased in ice. To be forever stuck in time, where it would never again influence the surface world.
Susan opened her eyes once more and looked into his. Big Brother kissed her forehead and laid her head against his chest. As she listened to his slowing heartbeat, she yawned and closed her eyes while ice enveloped her. Big Brother closed his eyes as well.
For the first time since it's creation, Rapture was silent. There would be no more screams, no death, no madness. Only peace, silence, with all of it's secrets hidden away where nobody would ever find them.
As he found true sleep, his soul felt warm for the first time in a long time.
"Susan, it's time to go, the rest of the family is leaving now!" Sara called.
The young girl wanted to stay and look out over the ocean some more, but it was dark now. But as long as they were together, they would live on and find a new place to call their home.
But just as she was about to turn away, the moon came out from behind the clouds and she thought she saw something out in the distance. She saw something looking back at her and tilted her head, only for it did the same.
Big Brother is safe now, and this is for you.
Little Susan giggled when a makeshift Big Daddy doll was washed to shore. She nodded her head in thanks and waved as she left to join up with her parents. The strange being, once known as Gil Alexander, dissapeared below the surface and swam back down into the depths. It would never be known if he would ever return.