SCHOOL'S OUT! And that means no one new chapter each week, we can do one chapter every day to a couple of days or two if lucky enough on the same day! Anyways, let's see... I got nothing to say right now. Let's do this!
Chapter 9 : Dinner with Sasha
Normal POV
The group arrived across the street to the Jefferson Tunnel when Cole called Moya.
"All right, Moya. We're across from the Jefferson Tunnel."
"Since the entrance is blocked, you're going to have to figure out a way to get down there. Your best bet is to head into the compound across the street and look for a way to open the gate." Moya explained.
"Rock 'n Roll." Cole said as she hung up.
The group then jumped off the roof and went to the entrance. Once Cole fully charged the box to it, the gate opened and they entered to be introduced by a suicidal Reaper. Luckily, Sora defeated it with a simple blast and bolt combination (Shockwave + Lightning Bolt).
Sora's POV
We then climbed up the ledge at the far right to be shot at by a turret. We got into cover and Cole used Precision to take out the Reapers in the towers. I then looked, using the loading crate as cover, to see three turrets in front of us.
"Krain!" I called out to him.
He quickly nodded in agreement and teleported, appearing behind the three turrets. Fortunately, the Reapers didn't notice until he picked them up with his telekinesis. He then threw them over the fence and into the water. The rest of us then got out of cover and went over to where he is.
"Great job." I said to him.
"Thanks." He said back.
Meanwhile, with Raze, Raze's POV
I arrived to see Sasha sitting on her throne as the gate opened, tar was everywhere, only concrete platforms to stand on to avoid it.
"Raze, I missed you. How's our little traitor doing?" She asked me as she got up from her throne.
"Fine, way better since I left." I answered.
"Good. Now perhaps until Cole and his little friends arrive, how about we get reacquainted?" She offered.
"All right." I accepted.
Back with the others, Cole's POV
When I got over the wall and climbed the tower, Sasha's voice was heard in my head again.
"Sweet, delicious Cole, coming home at last. I've been waiting for you, longing for you." She said.
"Just shut up." I responded.
I pulled the lever, opening the entrance for the tunnel. Of course, some Reapers came out of it, ready to face us. I jumped first and landed, unleashing a Thunder Drop and taking out two Reapers. The rest followed as I easily took care of the last one. As we entered, the voice came back.
"I can feel the love inside you, just waiting to be coaxed out. We're going to have such fun."
I ignored it as we continued on into the tunnel and face the Reapers in our way.
Back with Raze, Raze's POV
She then went into the tar pool.
"Let's have some fun." She then dived in.
I then flew over to a nearby platform and moved to another one as she fired a shockwave. She then made some realistic illusions of Reapers, which I easily took out with a couple of pressurized air shots at them.
"I see you still got it. I hope you have some surprises." She commented.
"I might." I said.
Back with the others, Sora's POV
After going through a gauntlet of Reapers, we reached a gate where we simply shot the lock off to open. What we saw inside was horrible.
"Moya... I think we found where they're making the Reapers. Bunch of people down here, locked in cages, machines spraying the tar all over them." Cole said on his phone.
"Get them out of there and then deal with Sasha." Moya said.
"Our pleasure." Cole said.
After that little conversation, we got to work. Fawn unlocked three cages by freezing the locks and breaking them, Me and Cole opened four more by shooting lightning bolts, Gold opened two by shooting two orbs at the lock, Izura did the same as us to two more cages, Krain opened three with his smoke shots, and Me and Cole shot the locks off the remaining six.
Cole's POV
After we freed the hostages, the voice came back.
"You think I don't see her, the way you're parading her around like a common Jezebel? I see everything now, Kessler. All of it."
"Damn, what's your problem?" I responded.
"Oh, you're a tricky bastard. Playing your games, thinking you're smarter than everyone else. You're going to pay. Oh god yes."
We then jumped down on a concrete platform in front of a gate. From what I can see, she's already fighting someone. She then fired a shockwave, hitting her opponent into the tar. He struggles to get up as she saw us and walked to the center of the room.
"Darlings! What took you? Was there traffic? I told you not to take the bridge. It's always backed up at night."
Sora's POV
She started talking as the gate opened, which then she continues talking, more specifically to Cole.
"Get dressed, we have dinner plans tonight. Of course I told you. Silly man." She then disappeared into the tar pool.
"You got to be kidding me." Cole said.
"She's delusional." I commented.
We then split up across the room to confuse her, but she obviously went after Cole and jumped out at him.
"Stop trying to confuse me!" She said as she grappled him.
"Keep talking." Cole said as he pulled out something from her arm. She then hissed at him, showing something in her mouth. From my view, I saw what looked like spider legs.
"Now I want to unsee what I just saw." I said to myself.
She then sent out realistic illusions at us, which were easy to dispatch because they disappeared in one hit. I then went over to her last opponent and got him out of the tar. It was Raze.
"Hey, Raze." I said as he spitted out some tar.
"Hey. Mind helping me out?"
"Of course. We have to take her out anyways." I answered. We then jumped off to separate platforms as Sasha started laughing at us.
Cole's POV
"Damn nutjobs." I said to myself.
She then started talking again at me.
"They're expecting us at seven. Of course it's formal wear. I laid out your tuxedo. And I made soup from the neighbors' bones. You want a taste?"
"Now that's disgusting and disturbing." Gold said.
She then creates more illusions, as we defeated them easily. She then fired a shockwave, which I dodged and I fired a lot of bolts at her. She then was stunned.
"Now that she's down, it's time to get up close and personal." I said to myself.
I got up to her and grabbed her, getting into a struggle. However, I managed to rip something out of her right shoulder. She then screamed and dived back into the water.
"Dammit..."
Fawn's POV
I shot icicles at Sasha as she dodged them and she delivered a shockwave at me, where I easily dodged but was caught off guard when she jumped out at me. We got into a power struggle when she started talking.
"You know, I've been in Sora's mind." She started.
"Really?" I sarcastically questioned.
"Yes and I have seen something you might be surprised to hear." She continued.
"I rather not hear it." I said as I added more strength, but she didn't budge.
"I looked and I was surprised to find that he has a little crush on you."
"What?" I asked, confused.
"No lie. If you ask me, I would be as shocked as you." She then started to push me a little, my strength faltering thanks to my confused state.
"You're lying." I said back.
"Didn't I just say that it wasn't?" She countered.
Then, she got hit by an electrified fist to her face, cancelling our struggle and knocking her down. The fist belonged to Sora, who then quickly ripped something out of her left shoulder. She then hissed and dived back into the tar.
"You all right?" Sora asked me.
"Yeah. Thanks."
Cole's POV
She keeps talking about these weird stories throughout the fight.
"Remember the weekend in Maine? We stayed in bed the entire time, and oh how you whispered to me. The promises you made!" She said.
"Shut the hell up!" Izura said.
"Why, Kessler? Why do you love her? I'll kill her, I swear it. I'll wear her skin like a robe."
"That's just straight up psychotic!" Krain said.
"You don't know, do you? Of course not, how could you." Sasha continued. "But you'll find out soon enough. And oh how you'll weep."
She then was stunned thanks to an Freeze Rocket from Sora.
"Gotcha!" Raze said as he flew to her.
He then quickly ripped out the last one out of her, making her fall back on the ground. We then walked over to her, looked as she talked.
"You can't control it, Cole. Look at me. Look at what it's done. It controls you."
I looked down at her as I was deep in thought.
"Sasha was a piece of shit before the blast, but looking at her now... is this what my powers are going to do to me? A warped body and twisted mind... is that my future? Either way, she knows all about the First Sons and the Ray Sphere. If we're going to dig ourselves out of this hole, it starts with her talking, right now."
BOOM!
They came in fast, smoke everywhere. Sasha got pulled out. Whoever they were, they were pros, trained for this kind of thing. There was no time to think, water was pouring in and the place was falling apart. With no way back, I got the others and we went forward, into the slums of the Warren.
(All characters: Good Karma +)
Done! Sasha was defeated for now, but not before revealing a 'secret' about Sora. Raze's past is slightly revealed and the group then had no choice but to enter the Warren District. What will happen in the new district? We'll see in the next chapter. So, until then, adios!
