The General cast one long, doubtful look over his shoulder before he picked the lock on the south laboratory doors. The Superior knew he couldn't keep The General contained in the isolation cells for long. He'd be out looking for him. If not his guards.
But he had to find Angel before any of that. Before he could worry about being captured again, or even worse - executed.
He was so close to finding her again. The rest of the team might've presumed him dead by now, but it didn't matter. He had to get Angel out of here. Her empty, emotionless face filled his eyes. He shut the memories out, burying them into the far corners of his mind. No. It wasn't over. There was still a chance. Romanov could undo this. Or maybe even get the Superior to undo it.
The lock gave a satisfying click.
But the door didn't swing open. It was kicked open.
His eyes shot open. The cold floor was at his back. And Angel stood over him, energy swirling around her fists. Her eyes were robbed of the usual acceptance he'd last seen her with. Now, they were torn, enraptured in anger. "What do you think you're doing?" Her voice was low, yet it felt like she was holding something back.
Normally, The General would back away, throw up defenses. But he showed no fear. He felt no fear. This was Angel.
Angel.
The General slowly stood to his feet. He rested his hands on her shoulders. Angel jumped a little and flinched, but she didn't slip out of his grip. Mostly because she didn't want to. His hands, his icy blue eyes, his desperate expression... Everything was achingly familiar.
He spoke, and although his voice reached her ears, she couldn't pinpoint where she'd last heard it. "Angel... What do you remember?"
Angel's brows knitted together. "What... What are you talking about?"
The General felt hope slipping away. "The team... Nox, Lloyd, Etrius, Beecher... Your mom and dad. Do you remember who they are?" When she didn't answer, he added, "Do you remember who I am?" He prayed the Superior didn't leave any memories of the evil he'd committed in the past. Turned him into an enemy.
The energy field that usually surrounded Angel dimmed, but she didn't respond. After a while, The General shook her. "Angel!"
A tear spilled from, Angel's eye. The General ceased his movements. Sionis didn't create an emotionless war machine. He created a fragile doll.
Without warning, Angel's eyes darkened like a storm. She felt... intimidated by his presence. She shoved away from him. "No..." She shook her head, scrunching her hands through her hair, as if torn between making an internal decision.
The General stared in awe as he finally got a full view of her. The way she ran her hands through her hair, just like Lloyd. The rapid movement of her eyes as she mulled over thoughts in her mind. Just like Nox. Almost to himself, he said, "You're just like them..."
Angel threw her gaze in his direction. "What?"
"You look just like Nox and Lloyd. God... What did the Superior do to you..."
Angel's eyes darkened. She took this as an insult. She shoved him away with a blast of power, but more out of anger. She let out a scream of frustration. "Just stay away from me!"
The General flinched, feeling all hope slip away once more. "Angel-"
"You have no right to call me by that name." Yet she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. That name. Angel. The same name written in the corner of her bathroom mirror. Could he have some connection? The key to the missing gap in her memories?
She slammed her eyes shut. No, he's the enemy. You grew up learning to hate the enemy. He's just a pawn beneath your heel. Walk away from him.
She turned around and sauntered down the corridor, letting her feet guide her.
"Angel!" The General called after her.
Angel kept moving.
"Angel!" The General shouted even louder. He wanted to jump up and go after her. But he knew there was no point. Angel was gone.
A sudden rumble shook the base.
The General's darted around the room as the vibrations receded back into the ground. He climbed to his feet, eyes narrowing as his suspicions became true. "I knew it." Relying on memory, he charged through the cold hallways towards the monitor room. The door was - surprisingly - unlocked. His hands subconsciously went to his belt, where he usually carried his caliber. But his fingers grasped air. He cursed silently. They'd taken his weapons before he regained consciousness.
He creaked the door open. The room was empty. But the monitors were locked with a secure password. The General's fingers flew across the keyboard, trying every possible combination. "Fallen Star... Element Evil... Castle Project... Whiskey..." Nothing worked. Then, it hit him. He recalled Blue saying something multiple times. Something from her dimension.
Diverting his attention back to the keyboard, he typed down one word.
Deletionquality.
"Password Accepted." A female voice said cheerfully. Got it.
The monitors displayed security camera feed of the base. At the very top, he noticed two figures, slightly obstructed by the forest around the base. In another room, the Superior was standing with his arms crossed. Waiting. His eyes widened, then narrowed. He ran his teeth together. "Lloyd, you stupid son of a bitch..."
Blue turned her face up to meet Lloyd's empty gaze. "Lloyd?"
Lloyd looked as if she'd been shaken from sleep. He glanced at Blue with something she couldn't name. "Sorry. Let's keep going."
Lloyd moved to the other side of the vicinity, but stayed within Blue's line of sight so she could stay confident. Lloyd breathed slowly, upholstering his pistol. He aimed at the guards patrolling the front of the base. He pulled the trigger.
The bullets whizzed past them, barely grazing their armor. They glanced at their surroundings, alarmed, before moving inside the base. Lloyd lowered his gun.
Blue couldn't help but feel relieved. At least they wouldn't have to worry about guards anymore. But what was with Lloyd's aim.
Is there some kind of magnetic field that reflects Bullets? Kind of like in that Batman movie. She shook her head. She knew the idea was ridiculous-but with the Superior, it was expected.
In her peripheral, Lloyd gestured for her to move in. She made her way closer to Lloyd, and together, they moved quickly inside the base, weapons drawn. Lloyd taught her how to fire a gun. The pistol felt heavy in her hands. But she was afraid to use it, even on characters. Afraid to take a life, even though she'd already unknowingly taken so many.
Once they were inside the base, the doors automatically shut behind them, locking with a red light. No escape.
Suddenly, they were everywhere.
The Superior's men leaped over catwalks, burst from cover and flooded in through open doors. They had them surrounded, forming a tight circle. Blue remembered writing about situations like this. But she wasn't prepared for how terrified, how claustrophobic she would feel. The plethora of soldiers looked like impenetrable walls, closing in. Her breathing grew heavy, her vision hazy. The pistol suddenly felt very real in her hands. Everything was happening too fast.
The crowd of soldiers parted way to let the Superior himself through, but kept their weapons trained on Blue and Lloyd.
Blue ground her teeth. This was her chance. She could end the Superior, and set everything right again.
She aimed at the Superior's head. Held her breath. And squeezed the trigger.
Click.
Blue stared at the gun. "A blank?" She mumbled.
The Superior smiled. "Congratulations, swordsman. You remember how to follow orders."
Blue stared at Lloyd, hope leaving her face. "Lloyd?"
Lloyd wouldn't look at her. Blue felt something collide with the back of her skull. The floor rushed up to meet her, but more hands caught her and kept her in shackles. She recognized them. Obsidian. So she wouldn't use her powers. She never felt so... defenseless.
Blue shouted as she struggled against the iron hands holding her back. "Are you FUCKING shitting me?! This is the second time you've done this, Lloyd! WHEN WILL YOU LEARN?!"
Lloyd slammed his eyes shut. Blue was right. All his life, he tried making deals with the enemy, to make things better for him. For people close to him. And they always backfired. The realization hit him harder than he'd expected. He would never learn.
The Superior snapped his fingers, and a familiar face stepped through the crowd. Lloyd first thought it was Nox, but she was younger. In her late teens. His face fell in apprehension as he realized. "Angel."
Blue was dragged into another room, in the other direction, kicking and screaming. The door shut. Angel approached Lloyd, but her eyes were empty.
Lloyd grabbed her arms. "Angel!?"
Angel looked confused for a second, but she didn't say anything. Lloyd's eyes darkened, every shred of anger aimed at the Superior. He stomped across the room. The men's weapons were still trained on him as he moved, but he didn't give a shit. He pulled his elbow back, and threw a punch into the Superior's face. "You son of a bitch! What the fuck did you do to her!?"
The Superior couldn't hold back his smile. "Turned her into what she was meant to be."
"You took her life, you fuck!"
"I didn't take her life," The Superior corrected him as he rose to his feet again. He felt suddenly taller than Lloyd. "The Author did. Her decisions-"
"Don't you fucking put this on her, you motherfucking coward."
The Superior grimaced. "You have your bastard child back. Now get out of my facility."
The door light blinked green, and it swung open again. Lloyd's eyes narrowed. "And The General."
The Superior creased his brows together, as if he truly didn't know what Lloyd was talking about. "Who?"
"You fucking know who I'm talking about." Lloyd held Angel close to him, as if afraid the Superior would yank her back with an invisible string.
The Superior's eyes widened. "Ahh, Creticus."
Lloyd's eyes narrowed. That's his name? He knew The General and the Superior shared a past, but knowing each other's names... This was something else.
"I'm sorry, but I still have a bone to pick with him." He spoke this as if it were a minor inconvenience. "Now leave."
Lloyd ground his teeth. "That wasn't the deal!"
The Superior held out his hand, power coursing through it. Lloyd realized. The Wise One's books. The incantations. He didn't need Element Evil to demonstrate his power. Angel's neck grew red like fire, and Lloyd felt a choking sensation. But he wasn't worried about himself.
"Do you want her to die?" The Superior's voice told him to think long and hard about his next decision.
Lloyd had just found her and she was already slipping away from him. He threw his arms around her. "No!"
"Then leave." The Superior added more forcefully, thrusting a finger towards the door. Lloyd ground his teeth. He knew this was all the mercy he would get from the Superior. Clutching Angel against him, Lloyd carried her out the door. The General would have to wait.