"Alright," Lawrence locked the blast door to the safe-rom behind him, "What the heck just happened?"
Mario hung his head, "Sorry about your tux, Law-man."
"Shut up." Lawrence growled, "How the hell did Dwight turn on us?"
"Maybe he isn't all evil? Maybe a-"
"No." Mario responded, "I saw the look in his eye... you didn't. He's changed. Not only that, but his body has... changed as well."
Yuki nodded, "Yeah, he's definitely put on a ton of weight and-" she went through some quick mental calculations, "-there is no way that he could have gained all that weight in muscle in the amount of time he was away from us."
"Really?"
"Well, not naturally."
"I see," Lawrence opened another door to access the hall for the armory. "If Dwight really has turned to Victoria's side, then we are definitely sitting ducks until we can get outside at least. He knows this base; he grew up here." He removed his leather jacket and the replaced it with a kevlar vest. "Arm up, people, Dwight's on the other side now. Shoot to incapacitate."
Mario removed a rifle from the rack at tossed it to Yuki, then he removed one for himself. "If we are going to fight Dwight and 78... we're going to have to think like them."
"That means we're gonna need more than just rifles, Mario."
"What do you mean?" Lawrence asked.
"I mean," she turned to her future brother-in-law, "we will have to return to a previous method of fighting."
"...and that is?"
Ben squinted, "I know what she means. Are you sure you want to do that though?"
Yuki turned to the younger rebel, "We don't have a choice. Look around at us!"
Ben and Lawrence did. The other rebels were arming themselves as best they could with as many things as they could. They were severely out-gunned and out-manned. Unfortunately, many of the rebels had broken away or gotten split up during the retreat.
Mario sighed, "You want me an' you to arm up Dark Soldier style?"
Yuki nodded, "Not just Dark Soldier style. Our tech is woefully out-dated..."
"Ad that mean...?"
Yuki sheathed a knife to her chest and removed her skirt. "We kill them, we take their armor."
Mario gave Yuki a poker face, "Eh, what?"
The young woman just rolled her eyes, "Just follow my lead." She stepped out of the safe room. Armed to the teeth. Ready to kill.
"Fate has smiled kindly on us today, Crocker!" Victoria, followed by her injured Dark Soldier 451, dragged the still-unconcscoius Shade.
Crocker turned from his ominous window and smiled, "A break! At long last!"
"And that's not all." She tossed to her surrogate father the two blood-stained articles of clothing. The tee-shirt and the pink hat. "Look familiar?"
"Turner." Crocker dropped the clothing at his feet then stooped before Shade, "It's over, Shade."He picked up and held the pink hat before Shade, teasing him, "Well? Any response?"
Victoria looked to the side. "You do know he's unconscious?"
"Oh," Crocker cleared his throat then stood up, embarrassed. "I knew that." He pointed to 451. "Take the prisoner to the holding cells."
"What?" Victoria questioned, "Why not kill him here?"
Crocker looked at her. "Because it isn't wise." He motioned for the Dark Soldier to take the prisoner again.
Victoria moved in front of Shade, blocking 451 from the prisoner, "Why don't we kill him now?" She demanded.
Crocker narrowed his eyes at her, questioningly. "Are you...questioning me?"
Victoria looked away then back at Crocker in his eyes, "Yes."
"Why? When have I ever led you wrong?" He placed a controlling hand on her shoulder.
Victoria looked to the hand, "You.. you never have."
"Good, then." He shook her shoulder just as a parent would a child in need of reassuring.
451 took the unconscious prisoner away.
As the Dark Soldier stalked off, Crocker turned to Victoria, "And be sure to get that one some medical attention. To know whether Turner is dead or not, that one will have to speak."
Victoria narrowed her eyes at the leaving Dark Soldier. "Understood, but until then, we assume the boy to be dead." She placed her arm around Crocker's neck, "Now, I have a proposal for you, Father..."
Yuki jerked her knife from the Dark Soldier Elite's neck and dragged the body into an enclave.
There was an audible crack and then Mario also dragged a dead enemy in as well. Within ten minutes they were both dressed up and ready to go for one last bout against the Dark Soldier Legion. "Just like old times?"
Yuki nodded, "Just like old times." She violently pulled Mario's head down and kissed him passionately. Behind her Kristen and Lawrence looked away.
"That's wonderful," Lawrence sighed, "Let's get moving."
Mario grinned beneath the helmet, "We are so getting through this."
78 sheathed and unsheathed his sword repeatedly, obviously on edge. "What's taking so long?" He cried out, he shot an accusing finger at Dwight. "You said that this wouldn't take any time! You gave my men the battle plan. What is taking so long? Why aren't those at the top at our feet begging for mercy?"
Dwight stood up and shrugged, "I gave them all the info, but this base is enormous. It will take time. There are so many nooks and crannies that they could hide in."
78 cracked his knuckles, "Well let's go in and prove that you are worth the money."
"Excuse me?"
"You really think that your... enhancement was free?" 78 scoffed.
Dwight chuckled, "Heh, glad to know I am not disposable and replaceable." He joshed with his ally.
"Well, not until we get a new grant."
"Har de har har." Dwight motioned and a dozen Dark Soldiers, Elites and Ninjas surrounded him and 78. "Let's go."
And the group descended into the Vickstralia Resistance Branch.
"Here, move that switch up!" Lawrence called of the gunfire thundering down the hall.
Mario did as he was told and urgently flipped the switch upright. After a brief creaking noise, the ceiling collapsed, crushing at least ten of the enemy soldiers at the end of the hall. "Let's move!"
The team stealthily but quickly moved down the hall. Kristen peeked around the corner. "There's at least a dozen down here, guys." She turned back to the team, "I'd suggest a grenade. Fast, efficient. Can stun the ones that don't get hit and we can take them out quickly and move on."
"Where are we going exactly?" Yuki piped up.
Ben responded, " Well, most of us are in Dark Soldier garb so I think if we head to the garage and rush out, we could pass as a troop?"
"Good thinking, Ben," Lawrence agreed, "That's the plan. But if we use a grenade down that way, then even more will be on the our position and probably our ruse."
"You have a better plan?" Mario asked.
"I do," Yuki kicked down a door across the way and threw in two grenades. As soon as they went off, she lined the door to the room with EMP devices. "Quick! Make yourselves scarce!"
The group hid themselves just as soon as the dozen of Dark Soldiers rushed around the corner into the room. As soon as they were through the door, the EMPs went off, totally shutting off all their electrical weapons.
"Let's get outta here." Whispered Kristen, "Before they realize it is a diversion."
"No need to tell us twice."
78 looked around the garage, "You really think they are gonna get out through here?"
Dwight nodded as he slit the final tire, "No doubt. Most likely their ruse of using Dark Soldier armor to camouflage worked... why aren't we informing the men that the enemy is disguised?"
78 smiled beneath his helmet, "I want Mario to feel the plan fail right when the end is in sight. I want to look into his eyes as his expression changes from cocky and arrogant to fearful and scared."
Dwight's face darkened, "Mario is mine."
Keep telling yourself that.
451 tossed Shade into a holding cell.
Shade rolled over and faced the Dark Soldier, "You can't do this."
The Dark Solder stared back at Shade. The man was stripped of all his formidable and imposing armor and his brown eyes stabbed into 451's shielded eyes.
451 walked away slowly.
Dwight watched as Mario and company entered the garage. They had eyes on all points. Dwight turned to 78, "Now what?"
78 grinned, "We watch him sweat."
"Hurry and find a truck!" Mario hissed.
Yuki surveyed the closest vehicles. "The tires are slit."
"Gee, ya think?" Ben eyed more of the vehicles, "Let's check the over crafts." He moved toward the closest hover craft and clicked the power on. The engine whirred to life. "Success!"
Those weren't the only things out of his mouth. The words had scarcely left Ben's mouth when a bullet erupted from his trachea.
"Get down!" Lawrence let no moment of grief pass as he barked out orders. Immediately the team was hiding from the unknown gunman.
"Does anyone have eyes on the target?" Yuki called out impatiently.
A rebel shook his head then peeked around the jeep he was hiding behind, "No dice. Can't even tell if there is one shooter or more." He turned back to Yuki, "We're totally gonna have to smoke these guys out."
Lawrence punched in some codes to his arm band. The garage started to open to the outside. "Either way, we are getting out of here."
Mario swung over the door to a jeep and started the engine.
"What do you think you're doing?" Kristen hissed.
"Diversion." He started the Jeep and taped the accelerator down. He released the E-Brake and jumped from the jeep just as it shot forward in the direction of the shot.
"That wont do anything." Lawrence chimed in as he kept ticking away at his arm band.
"Oh yeah? And what are you doing, Law-Man?" Mario asked back. He clicked a trigger at his arm and the jeep exploded as soon as it crashed into a fleet of other vehicles.
"Let's move!" Another rebel ushered the team forward to another barricade.
"Hold back!" Kristen halted and stopped the ones behind her from continuing. A missile screamed before them, effectively cutting the group in half with a small explosion. "We need to get to higher ground."
In the other group, Mario called out to Yuki, "Stay safe! I think I have a feeling who is behind this ambush!"
Yuki thought for a moment. "78?"
"You know anyone else without the penchant for boom-y things?" Mario joked back.
"Mm trying to lighten the mood?" Kristen called over the com.
"Perhaps..."
"Well cut it out. If 78's here, his new lap dog will be here as well."\
"Dwight?"
"How'd you know?" Dwight jumped from his perch in the rafters and smashed into the concrete floor before Mario. "It's you an' me, pal!" He pointed to the young man with one hand.
Mario frowned, "Dwight. Dude, you don't want to do this. You're outgunned right now."
"My men are crawling all over this place." He thumbed a trigger. Explosions rocked the base and tore apart the garage. In the fire and smoke, Dwight's face looked almost demonic, "What did I say, Mario? Jus' you an' me."
Mario looked around as the floor cracked and fragmented. His team, on other parts of crumbling earth, fell away. He was alone with Dwight.
78 growled, "This wasn't part of the plan!" he hissed into his com to Dwight.
"Plans changed, pal." Dwight shot back.
78 faced the few remaining before him. "Take this!" His rifle poured out fire on the crowd before him.
Yuki and Kristen dodged to the side as Lawrence and another Rebel ducked behind some rubble. "We can't hide here forever," Lawrence called out.
Yuki nodded and threw a grenade to 78.
"Please," the grenade exploded before him but didn't even budge him. "This armor is thick enough to survive twenty of these eggs!"
As soon as the smoke cleared, he wished he had taken the threat more seriously. Yuki's armored foot collided with his helmet, knocking him over something, er, someone. Kristen had somehow snuck behind him and propped herself up. Oldest trick in the book! And he fell for it. Literally. Lawrence's heavy body pinned him down. "Doesn't matter what you do." 78 grunted and diverted thirty percent of power to external.
Lawrence screamed for a moment then rolled off of his captive, twitching.
Before 78 had a chance to regain his position, Yuki tackled him into the depths of the base before the cracked floor.
Mario dodged another swipe of Dwight's gauntlet and returned with a stiff uppercut to the armored gut. The impact bent Dwight over. It was enough for Mario to shoot his knee into Dwight's unarmored face, knocking him back.
"'Red Rum', huh?" Mario struck a pose then unleashed a flurry of punches.
Dwight did his best to block them but still some snuck in. Finally came an opening. Dwight kicked for Mario's knee and the foe buckled. With Mario temporarily off balance, Dwight used a palm thrust to knock Mario back into a channel of water.
"No where to run, Mario!" Dwight jumped and landed before his prey.
Mario looked up as Dwight leveled an arm-mounted rail gun at him. "So you're gonna kill me right here, right now? With that?"
"Oh no, no." Dwight replied, "I've got a more... humiliating and brutal end in mind for you."
Mario smirked beneath his helmet, "Welp, you're gonna wish that you did shoot me." He kicked out Dwight's feet from under him and then dove into the deeper end of the channel, swimming with the flow of the water.
"Trying to run, Mario?" Dwight called out as he righted himself. "You're only prolonging the inevitable!" He dove after Mario.
78 watched as Dwight deserted him for Mario above in the channel. Idiot. He turned his attention back to Yuki, but she was on the retreat, running away. "Ha! Come now, 1290!" He called her by her Dark Soldier number, "Surely you still have some venom left? Or did Mario suck it all out of you in bed?"
Yuki's eyes narrowed as she heard the taunt. "I'm gonna mess him up so bad-"
"WHERE ARE YOU?"
78's amplified gravelly voice echoed through the remains of the base's ground sublevel.
"Over there," Yuki whispered as she tossed a rock across from her. The rock bounced off of the half-metal wall and grabbed 78's attention.
"Come out, come out wherever you are." The hunter sang out. "Games like this never end well."
Yuki unholstered her pistol and spun around the corner. She fired for 78's head and missed. Instead, the bullet ripped through 78's antennae.
"Dammit, Yuki!" 78 spun around and instinctively opened fire at the spot she had been standing. But she as no longer there. 78 flicked a switch at his chest and his helmet sent out a supersonic blip. Moments later the blip returned giving him a near-accurate picture of his surroundings in the dark. According to his echolocation, she was running away. Again. Here I come.
If he couldn't get to Mario, he'd get to Mario though Yuki. The next best thing.
Victoria walked into the med-bay and approached 451 with a smile. "I have to say," she purred, "I was having quite a rotten week until you showed up, 451. Where have you been in all my life?"
451 didn't respond. Partly because his neck was covered by a thick collar to repair the damaged tissue on his trachea. Most likely suffered from his fight with the Turners.
"Did you know that Timothy Turner and Shade are related?"
451 turned to his liege in surprise.
"That's right," Victoria smiled and cuddled with the underling. "Shade is Turner's father." Victoria looked at the Dark Soldier and could tell by her expression that he was curious as to how she knew. "Oh well, it wasn't that hard. You see, I created this time. I created," she stood up in wonder and smiled, "All of this."
The Dark Soldier squinted and shook his head.
"Oh," she crouched down to the Dark Soldier like a mother crouches to a child. "I know it is hard for you to believe, but that is why I am the leader and you," she patted his masked head, "Are the soldier."
"Victoria!" Crocker's voice boomed through the med-bay. "What are you telling him, sweetie?" His voice now back to normal.
Victoria spun around like a drunkard. She was grinning like a cat that had devoured a canary. "Can I not be happy for the capture and death of my two most hated adversaries?" she moaned.
Crocker narrowed his eyes.
"Have you given any thought to my proposition, Crocker?" She asked.
"Yes," He handed her a file, "I have to decline it."
"What?" She was taken a-back, "Wh-why?"
"A secret Dark Soldier task force directly under your leadership? i really don't think that that is... the best course of action." He took her hand with his and squeezed it. She looks so sad, he noted.
"But it's foolproof... I deserve this!" She struggled to fight back tears as her newest project was rejected by her shadowy advisor. "You have to let this through! We are so close to beating them! Timothy is dead and Shade is in our custody awaiting execution!"
"No... Timothy is presumed dead but there is little proof of his demise and Shade.. he cannot be killed yet... He will be seen as a martyr. And you know how that goes. We would have to wait to kill him or else more will come."
Victoria sulked into a chair by 451's bedside and just sat there.
Crocker smiled behind her and walked out, Crazy-ass child.
Unseen by Crocker as he left, Victoria smiled and her eye twitched. She looked at the plan for the new section of the Dark Soldier branch and something in her eyes snapped. "You're right, 451. It is my time."
Mario surfaced in a cave. The cave. The crystals were a dead give away. In the months after Molly's death, the Resistance set up an aqueduct to channel the water to their base. Performance of their member at least tripled in the first month. But nourishment isn't why he was here. He had to get out and set up quickly. Dwight would be there soon and ready to pick a fight.
"I just have to get the that safe house." Mario wadded to shore as fast as he could then beelined for the next cave. But he was too late. He could hear the splash of someone surfacing in the water behind him and then the hiss of a rocket being fired. The cave entrance was just before him, but he wasn't fast enough. His escape route was blocked off by debris and rocks. Falling rocks.
"Going somewhere?" Dwight wadded out of the water, out of breath but furious. "Like I said, Mario: It's just you... And... Me." He leveled his pulse rifle at Mario and fired for the head.
A/N: WooHoo okay so this chapter is done! I know you all must be wondering what happens next and what happened to everyone else? Like where is AJ and Tootie? Well, they are coming up in the next chapter! So far everything is going well and according to the timeline! Just please read and review :/ It means a lot to know that this story is still being read and enjoyed by people.
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