Sarah took several steps back, finding herself hitting Terrence. He too had decided to back away from the corpses that were approaching him, his powers useless again beings that had no working nervous system.
"So, any thoughts?" Sarah asked, raising her sword. "Because running away like bunnies doesn't seem like a heroic option."
"Or the way of a soldier." Terrence stated.
"And you would know the way of the soldier?" One of Terrence's corpse-buddies called out, moving out of the group and approaching. "You left me to die! To be tortured and beaten..."
"I did not." Terrence argued.
"HOw do you know?" The corpse asked. "You weren't there when I took my last breath, when I last looked upon the world with living eyes! You had turned tail and run!"
"I did not!" Terrence shouted.
"Liar!" The corpse screamed. "You speak ill words, and you are false! You left us all to die! You were a pathetic, worthless captain, and once more you have led your friends and family to..."
Sarah's sword swung out, slicing the corpse's head from his shoulders.
"Oh, shut up." She complained. She pointed her sword at the rest of them. "And the rest of you as well!"
"Eden...how can you be so cruel?" Issac asked.
"Because she needs to be." Terrence said, seeing how his words cut into her. "You know Eden...here is a thought...what if we switched dance partners?"
Sarah smirked. "I'm all for that." Brother and sister nodded before darting in opposite directions, attacking each other's enemies at once.
^&^&^&^
West fired his gun into DL, the dark skinned man merely twitching as he did so. West wasn't surprised...when you had a bullet hole through your chest already, one could not expect more of them to do much harm.
DL continued to come at him slowly, slinking through the tunnels, Nikki right behind him. The makeup they had used for her funeral was gone, revealing her charred flesh from where the fires had consumed her in New Orleans. Her hair was half gone, her wig long abandoned, and when she tried to smile it came out more as a sneer, due to half of the left side of her face being melted away.
"Micah...why are you running away baby?" Nikki asked, reaching out her hand. "Come on...we just want to take you home."
West forced Micah back. "Come on Micah, I need some help here!" he shouted.
"Mom...dad." That was all he could say, all he kept repeating, over and over and over again.
"That's right, it's us son." DL said.
West fired a shot right at Nikki's outstretched hand, blowing herfingers away. "They don't bleed when i shoot them, Micah, they are just more of the corpses!"
"But...maybe they..."
"No buts!" West scolded. "They are Fredrick's minnons! They are the reason we are fighting! The reason we are down in these tunnels!" DL moved to close and West struck out at him, just managing to punch him and dart away before Nikki could grab him. "Listen, I know this is horrible. No one should have to deal with this. You have suffered alot-"
"Yes son, you have...let us help." DL pleaded.
"-but you always wanted to be a hero...you wanted to help others. And that means doing things you don't want to do...like facing down these two." West put one more clip into his gun. "Somewhere in these tunnels is the monster that has been kidnapping babies, killing their parents and digging up corpses. Fredrick is a monster...just look at what he's done to your family!" He fired against at Nikki, taking out her ankle. "He needs to pay..."
"I know." Micah whispered. "But..."
"No buts." West reminded him. "You want to be a hero...you want to stop the villian? Then do youre damn duty and help me fight!"
West waiting, but MIcah said nothing.
"Then I guess you're just a kid I have to protect." he muttered, turning once more and unloading his clip into DL. Nikki hobbled after them, and West wondered how long he could last after he used his last bullet.
^&^&^&^
Joseph roared, slamming his palms together, the shockwave forcing Adriana back. She plunged her fist through a wall, using it to brace herself before she aimmed her left arm at him and opened fire. A hail of bullets flew at him, Jospeh just manging to snap his fingers and deflect them all.
"Maybe we shoudl leave..." Kelly stated, just before Joseph and Ardiana both turned and fired shots right at her feet.
"Don't move." Joseph snarled. "You fools are next."
"Right...next for me to k-k-kill." Adriana stated, turning on her powerblocker. Joseph roared as his ears began to bleed, Adriana approaching him. "See how easy it is to d-d-d-defeat you?" Her head twitched. "One small press of a button..." Her hand reached for hsi throat. "And you are hope-"
JOseph grabbed her wrist and ripped the powerblocker from her body. The moment it shut down he screamed, the sonic boom shattering the device.
"Not so hopeless now, am I?" he taunted, standing back up. He punched her in the face, a foolish move that left him with 3 broken knuckles.
"Yes, just in different ways." Ardiana stated. She came back at him, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him up. "I will kill you, Joseph. And I will have Fredrick bring you back, perhaps make you my doggy..."
Joseph glared at her. "No." He focused, and Ardiana began to scream bloody murder. Every piece of machinery on her, as well as every organ, found its sounds amplified 10 fold, her eardrums on the verge of ripping. But Joseph kept it right at that point, wanting her to suffer as long as he could. "I am the Master of Sound, the Voice of the Devil himself! I am the Herald of Hell." He leaned in close. "You never stood a chance!" He kicked her, hard, sending her rolling on the ground. "Your mind is gears and oil...mine is murder and revenge against the world. Raw humanity always beats the perfect machine." He snapped his fingers, taking out her left hand.
"That was how it was..." She ground out, a blade extending from her right wrist. She plunged it into his gut, sinking it just a cm above his intestines. Had she been functioning properly, it would have been a killing blow. "But now the world has changed...your kind is dying out."
"Who the hell do we root for?" Lee demanded.
"Both to die?" Linda questioned, limping towards him. "We need to go, now!"
"They really don't want us to leave." Kelly reminded them.
"It doesn't matter." Malcolm said, eyes white. With the power blocker gone, the chaos lines were screaming at him. "If we don't get the babies out of her in 4 minutes, they are all going to die, and us along with them."
^&^&^&^
Carter continued to move, Drago's bellows ringing in his ears. He didn't dare fight the monster in these close range tunnels, their fight sure to bring the rock down upon their heads and leave them both pinned and trapped, waiting for death. So he ran, unable to truly use his superspeed without risking running into a wall and bashing his brains in.
"Come now, Abaddon, don't be stupid!" Dragon shouted as Carter went through one branch in the tunnel. He continued forward, this tunnel growing wider and taller, and he thought that it would make a great place for a true stand against the shapeshifter. He spun around, drawing his sword and readying his flames.
But instead of running, Drago came around the bend calmly, looking at him in amusement.
"I know you would be laughing Abaddon, if you were truly yourself. YOu would laugh at how stupid this all is."
"What...me trying to kill you?" Carter asked.
"No...running into my trap." He reached towards the wall, pulling on a piece of metal that Carter had through was designed only to hold torches. With a crash a metal gate fell, trapping Carter and Drago.
"What ave you brought me?" A new voice called out.
Carter turned his head slightly, finally seeing what was behind him. For what he thought was a tunnel he now saw was a grand amphitheater, long buried under the streets of Paris. The great rock was carved to resemble some long forgotten city, built from the very stone the tunnels had been made from.
And from them now poured the undead.
Drago forgotten, Carter raised his blade, seeking to protect himself. He spun this was and that as the corpses snarled and snapped at his heels, seeking his flesh.
And from high above, lounging on hsi throne, Dr. Fredrick Frauzen smiled.
"You claim to be the Voice of God, Metatron. You claim to have seen Heaven's glory?" Fredrick scoffed. "Well then, allow me to be the first to say..."
Fire burst out all around Carter from every torch, the limp and dismembered bodies of Fredrick's victims still hung all about, blood coated the walls and ceilings. The screams and cries of the walking damned that Fredrick controled filled his ears as Carter whipped about, finding no way out. And written all over, the latin phrase 'Lasciate Ogne Aperanza, Voi Ch'intrate' was scratched into the rock. Truly, if there was one place that birthed all nighmares and horrors, it was this place Carter Daniels found himself in the middle of, trapped by the dead, the fire, and Drago himself.
"...Welcome to Hell."
^&^&^&^
Author's note; THe title of this story, which are the words Carter sees, is the famous phrase Dante sees went he enters hell in "Dante's Inferno". It is latin for "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here".