Round 3: City
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Set 2
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"Leo... what're we going to do?"
Napoleon kept his eyes turned firmly to the front. Behind him, he could hear Pearl preparing to make the jump, feet shuffling nervously on the gravel that lined the rooftop.
They were in an abandoned city of some sort, one of the creepiest ghost towns he'd ever come across. It was all in perfect order, no decay; no damage, nothing, just empty, silent avenues of glass and concrete.
"C'mon, Leo, we need to work this out."
No, they didn't. There was no point debating it now, not while there were still other people out there who wanted to kill them.
"Leooooo..."
Napoleon looked back. Pearl still hadn't jumped. He was standing on the opposite building, staring down the gap with a forlorn look on his face. He had a sniper rifle in his hands.
Napoleon held out a hand. "Toss me the gun."
"Okay." Pearl nodded, and did so. Napoleon caught it, examining the scope.
Pearl raised his hands, laughing nervously. "H-hey! Watch where you're pointing that thing."
"Sorry." Napoleon swung the barrel away.
"Okay. Okay. I can do this." Pearl huffed. "I can doooo this."
A faint rumbling sound to the right edged into Napoleon's hearing range. He crouched down, looking over the lip of the building.
There was a tank rolling down the street.
Napoleon made a 'get down' motion at Pearl. The other boy crouched immediately, face white.
The tank stopped.
And then, to Napoleon's horror, the turret started to move.
Napoleon dropped as low as he could go. There were a couple of moments of utter stillness, and then something exploded.
Napoleon risked a look. A building, five up from Pearl's, four from his, had just been fired upon by the tank. And the whole thing was collapsing.
Boom. The tank fired again. And this time, it was the building only three structures away.
Oh shit.
Napoleon leapt to his feet, all pretenses of stealth gone. There was another building behind his, a lower one, partially shielded. If he could get there...
Boom. This time, two away.
Napoleon didn't waste another second. Sprinting off, he took a flying leap off the building, landing awkwardly and painfully on the next one.
But he was safe.
Boom. There went the building next to the one he'd been...
Pearl!
Napoleon span. Pearl hadn't moved. He was still standing on the edge, face alive with fear.
Pearl's building was standalone! He needed to go over Napoleons to get to safety!
"Jump now!" Napoleon yelled, panic rising in his voice. "Pearl, jump now!"
Pearl gave a shaky not. Taking a step back, the boy launched across the gap, foot touching down on the roof.
Zero.
The shell slammed into the building's upper half, ripping through the structure like paper. Napoleon had one, brief glimpse of Pearl's ashen-face, wide eyes locked onto his.
And then Pearl was gone.
Napoleon sank down, the energy just leeching out of his body.
Pearl was... he...
And then the energy returned. Because Napoleon saw red.
His eyes went wide. His lip curled into a snarl.
The building in front was gone. He had a clear shot at the tank.
Napoleon crouched, raised the sniper rifle, and took aim.
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Set 1
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"Heeeeeey! Come on, I just want to aaaaask you something!"
Hands stretched out in front of him, Red stumbled deeper into the darkened crypt. Dark shapes flashed by on either side, long-abandoned hollows cut into the rocks and filled with bones. Behind him, the clattering footfalls of his pursuer gained momentum.
How the hell was he going to get out of this? He had no idea where he was, and no idea how to get out.
"Have you seen my partner?!"
Burgular Arnie whirled around the corner Red had just come from, bloodstained table held high over his head. Red quickened his pace in response, groaning with exertion.
He was trapped in a dark, cobwebbed maze of rock and bones, being hunted down by a psycho with a table. He wasn't going to be able to keep outrunning him for long. He didn't know where the exit was. He didn't have any weapons. He...
Wait.
Red hit the next corner, swinging around at full speed. And then, he stopped. Grimacing in disgust, Red climbed into the nearest tomb-hollow, sliding down into the shadows. And then he waited.
Arnie rounded the corner. Red felt around, and grabbed the largest femur he could find.
And the man moved to run past, Red raised himself up, and slammed the bone into Arnie's stomach.
Arnie gasped in shock and pain, dropping to the ground instantly.
Red scrabbled out of the hollow. "You... you want to know where your partner is?"
Arnie groaned.
Red raised the femur high into the air, the thick end positioned right above Arnie's head. "Right here!"
"That's... doesn't make se..." Arnie spluttered.
The bone came down.
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Set 3 & 4
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Alice, AJ and N stood on the edge of the shiny, circular skyscraper plateau, looking out at the empty city below. A cold wind came in from the south, making their hair dance in the breeze.
"We should be safe here." Alice announced. "No one's going to come looking up here."
"Hm." N squinted, looking at something out in the streets below. "Is... is that a tan..."
A dinging sound came from behind them. The three turned as one.
The elevator doors slid open. And Misty and Youngster Joey stepped out into the sunlight.
Misty grinned at them. "Hello! I'm going to light you on fire!"
Joey stepped forward, flipping a knife in one hand. "I hope you're ready, because my...
His eyes landed on AJ.
Joey stopped midsentence, knife falling from boneless fingers. The boy went pale as a sheet. "...AJ? You... what are you"
Misty turned to look at him, smile widening. "Joey? You wouldn't be having second thoughts, would you?"
AJ stepped towards him. "Joey, come on, it's me!"
"Heh, I..." Joey rubbed the back of his head, eyes flicking between the two. "I, uh..."
Misty turned towards AJ, raising the nozzle. "Don't interfere. Or I will cook you."
AJ stepped back, hands raised. "Joey!"
"Mmm." Misty's eyes widened. "Yummy!"
Joey's eyes hardened.
He pulled a second knife out of his belt. Then, he stepped forward, and lined it up to Misty's neck.
"Sorry Misty."
Misty whirled.
Joey struck.
But someone else got there first
There was a loud humming sound, and a flash of light. And Misty's head rolled off her shoulders.
Fennel stepped backwards, slinging the fire axe she'd used to decapitate Misty over her shoulder. "Entralink! Yay!"
Then she vanished again.
N, Alice, AJ and Joey all looked at each other. N was the first to speak. "What just..."
The humming came again. N was cut off midsentence, as Fennel materialized behind him.
The woman grabbed him by the back of the neck. "Hello!"
N's eyes widened. He tried to escape, but Fennel was faster. The woman tightened her grip, then flung him over the side of the skyscraper. "Bye!"
Alice tried to grab his shirt. AJ tried to whack Fennel with a truncheon. Neither were fast enough. Fennel disappeared, and Alice's hands grasped empty air.
The elevator dinged again. Wattson was seated on a chair inside, a bucket of popcorn in his hands. He waved at the three kids. "I'm just here to watch! WAHAHAHAHAH!"
Fennel reappeared next to Joey, swinging her axe. The boy dropped to the ground, avoiding the strike by a hair, then rolled towards Alice and AJ.
"Back to back! Now!" he yelled, clicking a pair of trench knives into place.
Alice and AJ did what he said, pressing up against each other. There was a moment of silence, broken only by the crunching of Wattson's popcorn.
Then, Fennel appeared above them. "Wheeeeeee!"
The axe came down. Alice and AJ leapt to the side. Fennel ignored them, going after Joey. The boy rolled away again, barely avoiding the swings. "Hah! You think you can take me?"
"Yes!" Fennel disappeared, reappearing behind him.
She swung.
Joey ducked.
She reappeared above him.
He leapt out of the way.
She materialized in front.
He caught the handle.
He tried to stab her.
She vanished.
Alice and AJ pressed themselves up against the wall, watching the bizarre spectacle take place. Fennel was fast. But so was Joey. And they were completely, totally evenly matched. "Hrrr." Fennel appeared on the fence railing. "This is annoying."
Her eyes turned to AJ. "...Hey."
She disappeared. Joey's eyes widened. He took off at full speed towards AJ. "AJ, get..."
Fennel appeared. The axe rose, ready to fall on AJ's head.
And then Joey stabbed her in the neck.
Fennel at him. "Ow. Owwwwww. I'm dead now."
Then, she reached out, and touched Joey's chin. "Entralink. Stratosphere."
"No!" AJ yelled.
They disappeared.
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Set 1 & 3
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The thick, iron door warped in on itself, the sound of rending metal echoing down the empty city streets. Sabrina flicked her wrist, and the door was flung from its hinges, violently pinwheeling through the glass front of a nearby building.
Sabrina stepped through the gap, moving at a slow, leisurely pace. The building she was in was more akin to a bunker than anything else; thick, concrete walls, minimal lighting, and walls that had been stripped bare of anything that could be used as a weapon.
There was a television screen up on the wall. It flickered to life. Bill stared down at her. "Hey, Sabrina."
Sabrina didn't respond. She just watched.
"No? Nothing?" Bill shrugged. "Well, if it helps, I'm over here."
From the other end of the corridor, the man himself stepped out. He gave her a little wave.
Sabrina turned, raising her hand.
"FUCK THIS WORLD! FUCK THIS U-NI-VERSE!"
From out of nowhere, the loud screamer music hit her like a physical force, snapping her concentration. Bill's hand came up, pistol pointed at her head. He fired.
Sabrina's hand shot up, and the bullet stopped mid-air, inches from her face. "No."
She flung the bullet back at him. Bill leapt behind cover, and the shot hit the wall instead.
Sabrina strode down the corridor, following him. As she turned the corner, she felt her foot sink into the ground. The walls around her exploded in a deadly blast of explosive and shrapnel, a mealstrom of concrete shards flying towards her. They slammed into a purple barrier of psychic energy, then slid harmlessly to the ground.
Bill's clattering footsteps grew fainter. Sabrina began to move faster, gaining momentum. She followed him through the corridors; left, right, left, right, le...
Bill was waiting for her. And in the middle of the corridor, facing her direction, was an enormous, black lighting rig.
He flicked the switch.
Sabrina's vision filled with light. She let out a cry of pain, hands flying to her eyes. Through the disorientation, she heard a metallic whirring sound come from beside her. Sabrina dropped to the ground, curling into a ball and wrapping her entire body in a psychic shield. She felt dozens, hundreds of objects slam into the edge with punishing force, the loud, whirring sound overpowering her senses.
Finally, the barrage stopped. Sabrina opened her eyes, blinking away the tears. Bill was gone. The walls on either side of her had slid revealing a mounted machine gun in each. Her shield was a hedgehog of metal; bullets, shrapnel, and even knifes.
A strange, stinging sensation caught her attention. Sabrina reached up and felt her cheek.
'd cut her.
He'd cut her!
Sabrina leapt to her feet, lashing the guns to pieces with whips of psychic energy. The bullets that had surrounded her coalesced into a single mass, that then became dozens of whirling, razor-sharp coils. She lashed out, ripping the lighting rigging into pieces.
Sabrina took off in a run, charging up a nearby staircase. The coils whipped around her like angry snakes, tearing huge rents in the walls.
She turned the corner of a long corridor, to see Bill just leaving through the opposite end. She drove her fist towards him, and he tripped, ankle snapping with a sickening crack.
Bill let out a grunt of pain, and flung himself to the side, reaching for something. His hand wrapped around a length of fishing wire, and he pulled.
The floor beneath Sabrina dropped away, revealing a long, gaping void. Her eyes widened, and her hands came down beneath her, the coils of metal arresting her fall.
A roaring from behind her caught her off guard. Sabrina span herself around, just in time to see a huge, slavering monster launch itself through the air towards her.
The coils came up, ready to kill, and then faltered. Less than a second before collision, she caught the creature in mid-air instead.
"Aoooo?"
The creature growled angrily at her. There was no recognition or intelligence in its eyes, only fury.
Sabrina span the creature around. There was a needle imbedded in the back of its neck, filled with the remnants of some foul, yellow liquid. Sabrina yanked the needle out. With unusual gentleness, she raised the creature into the air and placed it against the wall, encircling it with four coils of metal.
"I'll return."
She turned away. She'd broken Bill's ankle. He wouldn't be far.
Sabrina went up yet another set of steps. Through the gaps in the door at the top, bright rays of sunlight were streaming in.
She flung the doors open, stepping out onto the rooftop. The chilly evening air washed across her face. Bill stood in the center, leaning heavily on one leg. He had a dozen lines of fishing wire in either hand.
Bill smiled. "Well, this appears..."
He pulled the wires.
A metal blade lashed out of the wall behind her, swinging towards her head. Two spotlights on either edge of the roof lit up, their beams aimed squarely at her face. Hidden speakers burst into life, releasing a chaotic stream of babbling, screams and cries. Fires exploded into being behind Bill, filling the air with smoke and light.
Sabrina caught the blades on her shield, stopping them in mid air. Their handles beeped, and both exploded in tiny bursts of shrapnel. She caught those too.
She turned to see Bill fling something a small, black object. The spotlights strobed, momentarily blinding her, but she caught it.
It exploded in a cloud of smoke and dust. Sabrina coughed, the incredible amount of sensory input shredding her focus.
And the dark, knife-wielding form of Bill himself came hurtling out of the smoke.
Sabrina's head snapped up.
Bill's hand snapped forward.
Sabrina's hand came up.
Bill's knife entered her neck.
And then, everything stopped.
Bill froze in place, suspended in mid-air. Slowly, disbelieving, Sabrina raised a hand to her neck.
The tip of Bill's knife had pierced her throat. A thin trickle of blood was dripping down her neck. Another second, just one tiny bit further, and she would have been dead.
Sabrina's lips curled back with rage. She flung her arms wide, sending her metal coils flying across the rooftop. The spotlights shattered in an explosion of glass and sparks, the hidden speakers were ripped from their hiding places and torn to pieces, the weapons flung into the night.
Sabrina raised Bill into the air in front of her. He stared back at her.
"Beg me." she growled.
Bill smiled at her. "No."
"Beg me."
"No." Bill sighed. "It's not going to happen, Sabrina. Sorry."
"I... am going... to *disassemble you!" she spat.
Bill raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well, that sounds unpleasant."
"Nnnngh!" Sabrina raised herself up, hand raised to strike.
All of a sudden, she felt something very cold in the area of her chest. Sabrina looked down. The head of a spear was poking out of her stomach.
A second later came the pain.
The spear withdrew. Sabrina screamed in agony, collapsing to the ground. Bill dropped too, freed from her grasp. She rolled around on the ground, clutching at the torn flesh. And a shadow stepped over her.
Cynthia.
The Sinnoh champion was on her last legs. The entire right-half of her body was coated with burn marks, her right shoulder burnt down to the bone. Her face was chalk-white, and a long piece of jagged metal was embedded in her shoulder.
But her eyes were clear.
Cynthia raised Steven Stone's spear high over her head, and spat.
And drove the point down through Sabrina's forehead.
The Sinnoh champion looked to Bill, who was shakily regaining his feet. "The debt... is paid."
Cynthia placed the spear down on the ground, lay down next to Sabrina, and died without another word.
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Set 2
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"YEEEE-HAWWWWW!"
A pumped the lever. Brendan grabbed the handlebar. The tank juddered around them, the shot she'd fired making the entire thing vibrate.
A second later, the building next to them exploded.
"Hahaha! This is amazing" A yelled, exhilaration coursing through her body. "We're in a goddamn TANK, Brendan!"
Brendan smiled back, a smile that seemed oddly strained. "Yeah... A, I'm not so sure you should be...
"Oh c'mon, stop being a bitch!" A punched him on the shoulder, hard. "It's not like we're hurting anyone! The city's empty!"
A twisted the control knob, rotating the turret towards the next building. She hit the lever again. He action was answered from a boom from outside.
The M4 Sherman had come with one notable addition, a small rectangular opening just larger than an average computer monitor had been carved into the front section. A stuck her head through the slat, admiring her handiwork.
Damn. That was one fucked up building.
A returned to the controls, turning the turret towards the next building. Brendan hovered over her like an annoying gnat. "You don't know that! Any one of these buildings could have people in it!"
A shrugged. "Fine. Then there are people inside."
She kept her eyes turned to the front. "That's how this works, Brendan. We kill them, or they kill us. If you're too weak to get that, that's your problem."
She pulled the lever again; a little spitefully this time. Another building went up in smoke.
"Even if that's right, there's no need to go around firing on random buildings!"
A grit her teeth, twisting the controls.
This was supposed to be fun! Why couldn't Brendan just sit back and enjoy it? Instead, he continued to whine in her ear, his voice becoming more and more unbearable with each passing second. "There's no point to this! All you're doing is letting everyone know that we're here!"
A jerked the lever. The building right in front of them exploded.
"You are being ridiculous!" Brendan leaned in over her. He sounded angry, and it was really pissing her off. "You're putting our lives at risk!"
A's fingers tightening around the wheel.
"And why, just so you can fulfill some stupid fantasy..."
Brendan's hand landed on her shoulder.
Enough.
A rounded on him, shoving him away. "Shut the fuck up!"
Brendan took a step back, her vehemence taking him by surprise. A advanced on him. "You would be DEAD without me, Brendan! I have saved your life ten fucking times over! How about a little gratitude for once, huh?!"
She shoved him hard in the chest. "I'm the one that's kept us alive! And I am doing this MY way! You got that?"
Brendan caught himself on a wall, meeting her anger with his own. "No, I haven't 'got that', because you're..."
His words trailed off. His gaze dropped to her chest, and the blood drained from his face.
A looked down. She was standing next to the slat. And right above her heart was a tiny red dot.
A opened her mouth.
Brendan launched himself into her, crash-tackling her to the ground. As she fell, she heard a metallic ping. A hit the deck hard, shoulder hitting metal with a painful thud.
She groaned. "Owwwwww..."
Slowly, hands trembling involuntarily from the shock, she rolled to her feet. She turned to Brendan, all traces of anger gone. "I... uh..."
She stopped.
Brendan was pressed up against the wall of the tank. His face was pale. And he was clutching his side.
"Brendan?" A stepped towards him, a cold fear curling up her spine. "Brendan, are you okay?"
Brendan looked up at her, with wide, scared eyes.
"A..." he swallowed. "A, I... I can't... feel my legs."
No.
Brendan's eyes went down to his hands. Thick red blood was oozing between the fingers, staining the leg of his pants.
"I think I'm going to die."
"No." A went down to her knees next to him, trying to get a look at the wound. "No... no you're not."
The blood was coming faster now, pouring out of the hole in his side like a tap.
"There's... black, at the corners of my vision." Brendan's eyes started to glaze. He squeezed them shut, fighting it off. "It hit something important, I'm loosing too much blood."
"Comeoncomeon, stay with me!" A leapt to her feet, rushing over to the medical cabinet. "There are bandages in here, we can fix you!"
Brendan's head slumped forward
"We always knew only one of us could live." he mumbled, dull pupils fixed on something only he could see.
A flung the cabinet open.
"That's how it works."
"Shut up."
"And it was never going to be me."
"SHUT UP."
A tore through the cabinet, medical supplies flying everywhere. She grabbed a roll of bandages, rushing back to Brendan's side. She pried his hands away, maintaining pressure on the wound, and shoved a pad of bandage into the hole.
Brendan weakly shook his head. "I'm done... please, don't waste this."
A pressed harder on the wound. "Don't you dare leave me alone here, Brendan! Don't you dare!"
"A." Something in his voice made her stop. With a limp, bloodstained hand, Brendan reached up, and stroked her cheek. Brown eyes met blue, and sparkled with life one final time. "Win this."
"No." A grabbed his chin, hot tears running down her face. "No, no, Brendan please, please don't go please don't go... please..."
A wrapped his head in her arms, bringing his face to hers. "I think I love you."
"I..."
She kissed him, fiercely, shoving her mouth onto his. He kissed her back. And for a moment, there was nothing else.
But then, the moment passed.
The kiss ended.
And Brendan was gone.