Chapter 16 – Invincible

Camisado
By Panic! At The Disco

It's not so pleasant,
And it's not so conventional,
It sure as hell ain't normal,
But we deal, we deal.

No- one's POV

Echo laid Grim gently to the ground and sprang to his feet, grabbing Ratchet by the shoulder just as he reached the door.

"Where are you going?" he demanded.

"You heard her." Ratchet replied, struggling out of Echo's grasp.

"Finish the program, I'll help."

"What? If she lives, she'll kill me!"

"If she doesn't live, I'll kill you."

"But-"

"Ten times worse than she ever will."

Ratchet was about to argue back when he saw the desperate gleam in Echo's optics. He sighed and waited for Echo to pick her up again, then motioned for him to follow as he made for the lab where he was writing the program for the nano bots.

"I'll die for certain if she lives, once the nano bots are in her system, they are programmed to fix any damage of faults in her, so every time she gets injured, they'll keep fixing her. Meaning, she'll be indestructible; she won't be able to die." Echo raised an optic ridge but otherwise kept quiet.

I already lost one, I'm not going to lose another. Even if it means my death. Ratchet thought grimly. He wasn't one for letting people die, not if he could help it.

"I'll keep her calm for as long as I can, she won't kill you while I'm around. And she said she never wanted me leaving her side so I guess that's forever since she can't die."

They reached the lab and Ratchet walked up to a computer, typing in the password.

"So what do you want me to do, doc'?" Echo asked, laying Grim down on the examination berth.

"Actually I have nearly finished, I was going to finish it when I…got distracted…" he mumbled, referring to his fatal interfacing session with Acheron.

Echo didn't respond, he was staring at Grim's unconscious body on the metal examination berth, her face was more peaceful than it had been in a long time. His optics shifted to the cylinder of nano bots sitting next to the table, they were swimming and moving around in the tube of light blue liquid. He retched at the thought that these little critters were going inside her.

"Okay…nearly there and…" he pressed a key "done!" he exclaimed, he was like a little child doing a science experiment on a guinea pig. Except he was far from being a child, or little for that matter, and Grim Reaper was far from a guinea pig.

The nano-bots received the transmission and started going haywire inside the jar. Ratchet picked up a very, very sharp looking needle and pressed it into the top of the cylinder, sucking up all of the nano-bots into it.

"I was planning on doing this while she was still conscious, and well, let's say it's going to be a little easier like this." He gave Echo a wary look, "You might want to turn away." Echo turned, a little nervous about what Ratchet meant when suddenly a blood curdling scream pierced the air. He spun around and felt his spark shudder at the sight.

Grim was sitting bolt upright, her optics unshuttered but blank. It was like watching a dead person screaming. A dead person with no optics, screaming. Ratchet squeezed the last of the nano-bots in and ripped the needle out as quickly as possible, when the needle left her arm her body crumpled back to the table again and remained still.

Ratchet turned to Echo and shot him an apologetic look, "Sorry, entry was a bit rough. I told you not to look." He added pointedly. "The restoration process will take about an hour, but she should regain consciousness before then, sorry, there's nothing else I can do here. All there is left is to wait."

And so Echo waited.

oOo

Thirty seven minutes later…

Spectre gasped, gulping down big gulps of air, like she had been underwater for ages. Echo stood up, watching over her as her chest slowly acquired steady breathing, rising and falling. Her optics on-lined and she bolted upright, looking around frantically for something. She looked frightened, like she had just seen a ghost. Her optics locked on to Echo and she lunged forward, grabbing him in a tight hug.

"W-What just happened? D-Did I d-die? Echo! Echo, what happened?! I'm scared…I…I think I just saw Jazz…"

Armageddon's POV

Thirty seven minutes earlier…

The pain didn't stop. Death was supposed to be 'inky black peacefulness', right? Then why the hell was I still in agony?

I continued to scream and cry to the uncaring silence, harsh cold and endless black. There were voices, concerned and scared. I could only tell by the tones, as I had no idea what they were saying. Some were giving orders, others were responding quietly, but all of them were scared. What was going on? They faded into utter, pure silence and I felt more alone then I had ever before. The soundlessness was so intense it felt like it could snap my spine in seven different places.

There was a pinpoint of light ahead, a golden spot of warmth. The small spot of light poured over me, blinding me. I felt like I was falling, no wait, I was jumping. But when did I jump? Don't remember that.

There was a huge electrical shock in my chest and I shrieked. My entire body jolted. The shock came again and again, and I kept on screaming, begging for it to stop. I couldn't take this, it was all too much. My poor spark felt like it was going to splutter out any moment. Why couldn't I just die and be done with it? Why did I have to endure this torture? I wanted at least a small moment of peace before I went to hell to burn for all eternity.

I went limp. Time seemed to fall away like water through cupped hands. There was movement in the darkness, a window of blurred life. Slowly it took shape, colors formed, but it was all too fast for me to make out. Everything started to slow down, then it all stopped.

I risked looking through the window, the border between me and whatever was on the other side. I leaned forward and peeked through. It was a bit blurry, but I could see something white and solid. There were small square patterns all over the white thing. What was it?

The window turned into a door. I wasn't scared. There was nothing that scared me anymore. I knew it was life, I could be a better person if I lived. Maybe I could escape hell… no, I was too deep to escape it, but I could still try...

Something stirred next to me. I turned and saw Jazz. What was he doing here? He was dead, but shouldn't have he passed over by now? He gestured to something behind me and I turned around. I saw Grim. But she looked completely different and the same at once.

"Grim?" I demanded, "What the fuck? You're not supposed to be here. You're not allowed to come here. Get through that door or else I'll kill you! Even though you're still dead…"

Grim walked up to stand beside me. She looked scared. She was actually seeing a ghost, and she definitely looked like it. "J-Jazz?" she stuttered, "Is that you?"

He smiled and nodded, enveloping her in a tight bear hug, kissing her cheek. I wanted her through that door, I wanted her to live. There was something out there that needed her, one thing above countless others.

My time was over, I was done, there was nothing out there that needed me. I could only assume I had either done or failed the job God had given me. I wasn't needed anymore.

Grim kissed Jazz back and hugged him like he was a lifeline. After a few moments, he had to pull away. I took this opportunity to speak.

"Grim," I began, "you have to get through that door."

"But… Jazz—"

"He's not going to leave you! I know it, knowing him… you're needed out there, your job isn't done yet. I don't know how I know, but I just know, y'know? I'm not needed there anymore, there's nothing out there trying to pull me through. But there's something or rather that needs you, one thing above the countless others. I've either failed my job or completed it. Get out there and do yours as best as you can."

I grabbed her shoulders and shoved her through the door. When she went through, it vanished. There was no way I could go back to the Land of the Living anymore, not that I was wanted anymore.

I turned to Jazz and asked, "Where are you going now, Jazz?"

"Ah'll stay around n' watch ova Grim," he replied, "what about ya?"

"I'll go and burn in hell," I answered casually, "I doubt I'll make it to Heaven. By the way, which way to hell?"

He pointed to his left, where a red spot and white spot appeared, "just go ova there and there'll be two doors, one ta hell an' one ta Heaven. Fate will guide ya through th' right one, dig?"

I nodded, then asked, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Yea, ask away."

"Tell everyone that it's been the time of my life knowing them. Not just the 'Bots, but the 'Cons as well. I want everyone to know."

He nodded, "All righ', Ah'll tell 'em."

I smiled, "and also, like I just said, it's been unreal knowing you. Look after Grim, alright? And yourself too." I hugged him goodbye.

He returned the embrace, "can do. Take care."

I released him, smiled and high fived him. Then I turned and started walking towards the spots, never looking back. I walked for what seemed like years, or maybe minutes, but I didn't get tired. I arrived at the doors. The one on the right was burning red, while the one on the left was glowing white.

I had an idea what was behind each door, so I pushed open the red door and stepped through, muttering, "Bring it on, Satan."

Echo's POV

Did she just say what I think she just said? Jazz? An unnerving feeling settled in the pit of my gut.

I slowly put my arms around her, patting her back uncertainly.

"He-he was there…I saw him... he hugged me," tears slid down her cheeks and I reached forward to wipe them off with my finger, she grabbed my arm and hugged it to her chest. Awkward... "He was there… I could have stayed with him, I wanted to talk to him, I wanted to tell him so much! I saw death, Echo. Acheron was there too! She pushed me back. She saved me, that's why I'm here right now. She's why I am alive. Else I would have been stuck there..." She kissed my hand and hugged it again, when I pulled her closer so I could hug her myself. She took in deep breaths, trying to calm herself down after the experience. "I died Echo. I really died." She mumbled quietly. "What would you do if I stayed there, what would you do if I was gone?" she asked me.

I smiled, "I'd come right after you and steal you away back to the Land of the Living."

"You'd die to save me from death?" she asked, her optics shuttered. I rested my chin on top of her head, she knew the answer. "Jazz was there… waiting for me… he didn't leave…" she mumbled.

"I can promise you one thing, you won't even experience it again." I said quietly, making her confused. So I explained what Ratchet had told me about the nano bots.

"I can't die?"

"Apparently not." I said weakly, just so glad to have her back. Ratchet had told me that he wasn't sure it would work if she had already died. It was a fifty-fifty chance. But it landed on the right side, the fates have been kind to return her.

She buried her face in my chest. "I'm not sure what to make of that." She mumbled.

I nearly laughed, "I tell you that you have immortality and that's all you can say?"

She looked up at me, matching my gaze. "Well, what do you say when some TV personality pops up on your doorstep and tells you that you have won a million dollars? No one really knows, some people squeal and jump up and down, some people cry, it all depends. But they know, one way or another, a million dollars can go away, be spent, stolen, disappear somehow. A million dollars isn't eternal. While as eternity is eternal, immortality doesn't go away. It's not something I can lose, and eventually I will want to. Even a million dollars can be lost by death, but what happens if you lose death? How would you react?"

I looked confusedly at her, smiling, it's just like her to say something like that, to delve into the meanings and feeling behind things. It's what I missed about her in the short time that she was gone. It was crazy, it was short but it felt like a million years. "I don't know" I replied, "maybe something along the lines of 'whoo, pie-eating competition, here I come!'" I laughed jokingly. She smiled and chuckled too.

But I couldn't help feeling that something was incredibly wrong...