A/N: Thank you guys SO much for the thoughtful reviews! You're all amazing! I seriously have the best reviews EVER! We're down to the final week- only three chapters left in the story! It seems fitting that the final chapter will be out on Friday, while I'm working Youmacon in Detroit. I can post the last chapter in my crazy superhero AU while at a convention where I get to fangirl over superheros with other geeks.
Time for Blue Team to confront Great Goblin. Wish them luck...
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The bulk of Great Goblin's warehouse was contained in the final room. Long metal catwalks stretched through the rafters three stories up, and the ground was covered in moving metal panels that shifted to reveal pits of spikes and molten liquid and other manners of dealing death.
Dwalin stared into the room with a growing sense of unease. "Why this? Why can't there be somethin' to punch?"
Thorin opened his mouth to agree with his friend, but was interrupted by Ori's quiet chuckle. "It's funny- two of the most powerful Supers there are and you're both lost the second we're faced with a challenge you can't smash your way out of."
"Datin' ya has been a challenge at times and I ain't smashed anything yet, lad," Dwalin pointed out with a smirk.
"You and Dori almost came to blows the first time we kissed."
"Oh yeah." Dwalin shrugged and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "So anyway, what's the plan here?"
"I believe we need to get up there." Balin pointed at a small dais suspended from the ceiling at the far end of the room. There were no walkways or ladders connected to it and whatever the platform held was hidden from view.
Thorin peered up at the dais and frowned. "Why there?"
"Because it's the only place we can't get to."
"Of course." Thorin smiled slightly as he felt Bilbo's invisible hand close around his and squeeze reassuringly. "Let's get on with it then. I've always liked impossible challenges."
Starting forward slowly, they picked a careful path across the metal floor towards the only ladder up to the catwalks. As they moved the floor shifted beneath them, forcing them one way, then another, and occasionally dropping away entirely and causing them to scramble to safety. Each time they stopped moving Bilbo would place a hand on Thorin's arm as assurance that he was still with them. So close to their goal he dared not speak and risk Great Goblin discovering his existence.
They reached the ladder with no missteps or injuries. Being the lightest, Bilbo climbed up first, testing the strength of the metal rungs as he went. At the top of the ladder he stepped unseen onto the catwalk and peered around. Seeing nothing amiss, he quietly tapped the ladder- the vibrations carrying down to where Thorin rested a hand on the bottom rungs. "All right. Time to climb."
Thorin scaled the ladder two rungs at a time. When he was half way up Dwalin followed suit with Ori close behind. Three rungs from the top, Dwalin cursed as the bolts securing the ladder broke free on one side, causing them to swing wildly. Ori cried out in panic and hurried to find better footing as the ladder buckled and another bolt broke loose. Thorin braced himself against the catwalk and swing an arm down towards Dwalin, but the other man was too busy reaching for Ori. The last bolt broke free and Ori leaped free and caught hold of Dwalin's hand just as the ladder fell. Thorin grabbed hold of Dwalin and with Bilbo's unseen help, hauled them both up to the catwalk. They collapsed in a heap, with Ori clutched tightly in Dwalin's embrace.
Leaning back over the edge Thorin regarded Balin, who was standing beside the broken ladder looking worried. "Are you all right, Balin?"
"Yes. I managed to dodge the ladder and not fall into the lava pit that opened up under it."
"Do you see another way up?"
"No. I think Great Goblin meant to separate us," Balin called up. "Too bad for him I don't need a ladder." Muttering an incantation under his breath, Balin raised a hand and the tiny rocks that had been shielding him came together and melted into a single form. Balin stepped onto the flat tile of stone and gestured upwards. The rocks answered his command and carried him up to the catwalk. As Balin stepped off onto the metal grate floor, the stones broke apart and he sagged visibly.
"Balin?" Dwalin asked with a worried look as he helped his brother to his feet.
"I'll be fine. It just drains a lot of my energy to do that. Rocks aren't meant to fly."
"Good work, Balin." Thorin patted his friend on the shoulder, then turned to survey their surroundings.
The catwalks crisscrossed over the entire length of the warehouse, held in place by thin suspension cables. Some of them had guard rails, but most were completely open and only a few feet wide. Across the room, the dais they were attempting to get to could be seen. It was barely a five foot square and housed what appeared to be a large computer system. If Great Goblin sat behind the monitor, he was well hidden from their view.
"Stay together and watch your step," Thorin instructed as they started across the walkways.
"Not a hell of a lot more to do besides watch," Dwalin grumbled from the lead, before a large ax swung out of the rafters and forced him to drop flat to the floor. Two more axes joined the first and they moved back and forth like a pendulum over the path. Dwalin hissed in pain as the first ax swung back over his prone body and cut into his shoulder. As soon as the blade passed he rolled to the side, pulling himself to his feet as the deep wound healed itself.
"This makes things a bit more interesting," Ori commented as he timed the swings and darted out between the axes, making it cleanly to the other side.
Balin quickly followed his lead, as did an irritated Dwalin. Thorin dodged the first two aces with ease, but stopped at the third and glowered. Drawing back his diamond-shifted fist, he slammed it hard into the swinging ax, breaking it loose and sending it falling to the ground below. "That was incredibly satisfying."
Dwalin made a face that was almost a pout. "Wish I'd thought of that."
They continued on, skirting traps as they picked their way across the expanse of catwalks towards the dais. Suddenly, the lights flickered and dimmed and the length of walkway just behind them fell away.
"Well, well, well," a voice echoed from all around them. "You've made it further than I expected. Bravo."
The catwalk they stood on trembled and Thorin herded the others forward just before it crashed to the ground. They continued to move until they closed in on the dais and reached a dead end. The walkway behind them collapsed, leaving them standing on a ten foot run with nowhere to go.
"It's funny, I expected more distress when you were cut off from the rest of your team. They certainly panicked when I shut down their power grid. Perhaps you don't care about them as much as I'd thought." The voice emitted a dark laugh. "If that's the case it won't bother you to know that they're all dead."
Ori made a mewling cry and fell forward into Dwalin's arms. "Don't listen to him, lad. He's just sayin' that to make us lose focus."
"Am I?" A large projection screen blinked to life along the far wall of the warehouse. On it, images flashed of a fight inside Erebor Tower. A bullet speeding towards Dís' head. Bombur unmoving on the floor. Nori falling off the edge of the balcony. "You see now that I'm telling the truth. Your friends are dead, Erebor Tower is destroyed, and the Company is no more."
"The Company will continue to fight so long as one of us still breathes," Thorin ground out through his tears. "You'll pay for what you've done, Great Goblin."
The image on the screen changed to show the warehouse. Zooming in on the dais, they saw Great Goblin sitting at the computer with a smug look. "I want you to see the face of the man who is going to kill you. The face of the man who is going to kill all of the Supers and make the world kneel!"
Bilbo let out a squeak and became visible. On the screen, he was pleased to note Great Goblin's look of surprise. "I know who you are! You're Barry Humphries! You work for G-Tech!"
"And you're the little burglar who stole my files. What a small world this is, to see you partnered with the ones who destroyed my dragon."
"You had access to Smaug all along. No wonder you managed to hack in an' change the code," Balin accused the man on the screen.
"They made it so easy. I didn't even need to leave a backdoor open to let my code in. They trusted me so much I simply left the package on the front porch and they all but invited me in to play." Great Goblin cackled gleefully. "No one would ever expect Barry Humphries, the mild-mannered computer geek, of being an evil genius!"
While Great Goblin was self-elaborating Thorin glared at the dais and muttered under his breath, "We have to get up there and stop him. Balin, can you manage it?"
Balin shook his head incrementally. "No, I can't even keep my shields up right now. I'm still too drained."
"What do we do?" Ori whimpered. "He'd going to kill us like he killed..." His words broke off in a strangled sob.
"Easy, lad," Dwalin murmured. "There will be time to mourn once this is over."
The walkway they stood on pitched to the left and they scrambled to stay upright. "I'm going to have fun killing you. I think I'll take my time, see how long it takes for you to break with no water or food, and no chance of rescue. Once you realize it's hopeless you'll be desperate for my mercy. I want to hear you beg, Oakenshield. I want to hear you beg for death!"
Bilbo felt a desperate prickling sensation creep along the back of the neck and turned to Thorin with determination. "Do you trust me?"
"With my life," Thorin answered without hesitation.
"Do you remember Azog in the alleyway?" Bilbo waited for the realization to dawn on Thorin's face before he continued. "If this doesn't work we might both end up dead."
"If we stay here and do nothing we'll be dead anyway." Thorin gave a sad smile. "Some second date this turned out to be."
"I've had worse," Bilbo admitted with a slight grin. "Together then?" He reached out his hand.
Thorin threaded his fingers through Bilbo's and nodded. "Together."
On the screen Great Goblin's face broke into confused rage as Thorin and Bilbo rushed to the edge of the catwalk and jumped into the open air.
A loud crack broke the silence and the air was filled with the faint spell of sulfur as Bilbo and Thorin vanished mid-air, only to reappear on the dais. Bilbo wobbled on the edge and Thorin pulled him to more solid footing.
"What?" shrieked Great Goblin, tapping wildly at his keyboard. "You can't be up here! You're supposed to die!"
The catwalk the others stood on started to tip and Bilbo moved without thought. He popped back and grabbed Balin, teleporting him safely to the dais before going back for Ori. The prickling on Bilbo's neck focused him, and when the catwalk finally gave way he dove off the dais and caught Dwalin's arm mid-air. They vanished seconds before impact and reappeared with the others on the platform.
"I do believe I'm getting the hang of this teleporting business," Bilbo commented with a tired smile. He leaned forward with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. "It's like a panic button- usable only in moments of extreme duress."
Great Goblin dove at his keyboard one last time and hit a small button that caused a line of code to spread across the screen. "Speaking of panic buttons, that was mine. There's no way out and I've initialized the self-destruct sequence. The Company will fall today, even if I have to die to see it done!"
Destruction imminent. T-minus 3 minutes and counting.
"Shit!" Dwalin grabbed Great Goblin by the collar and shook him. "Cancel the self-destruct! Now!"
"Or what? You'll kill me?" Great Goblin laughed. "I'll be dead in less than three minutes anyway."
Dwalin growled and brought one of his fists down hard against the side of Great Goblin's head. "About time I got to punch somethin'." He let the unconscious man slump back in the chair.
Destruction imminent. T-minus 2 minutes and counting.
"You just knocked out the only person who could possibly stop the countdown!" Balin screamed at his brother.
"Not the only person..." Dwalin looked at Ori and worried a thumb across his knuckle-dusters. "If he's out cold he ain't feeling much of anything... If ya don't want to, I understand, lad. No one will fault ya for-"
Ori shut him up with a kiss. "Let's hope this works." Ori tore off his gloves and tossed them to the side. The runes on his hands blazed to life as he touched Great Goblin's arm, causing the unconscious man's body to tremble and buck.
Destruction imminent. T-minus 1 minute and counting.
Pushing Great Goblin out of the way Ori bent low over the keyboard and began typing frantically. Behind him, Thorin placed an arm around Bilbo's waist and pulled him close. Dwalin met his brother's eyes and gave a nod of encouragement. No one said a word.
Destruction imminent. T-minus 30 seconds and counting.
Ori typed faster, a thin sheen of sweat breaking out across his brow. "Come on, you malfunctioning piece of techno-rubbish! I just need to redirect the bios onto this new partition and then force a factory overwrite..."
Destruction imminent. T-minus 20 seconds and counting.
Around them, the entire warehouse seemed to shake and stutter. Metal panels disconnected and fell from the walls and ceiling, snapping the cables holding the remaining catwalks in place and sending them crashing to the ground below.
Destruction imminent. T-minus 15 seconds and counting.
"Bilbo? Can you teleport out of here?" Thorin asked desperately.
"No... I don't believe I could..." He rested heavily against Thorin's side. "If this is where the road ends, I'm glad to be here with you." Thorin held him closer and pressed their foreheads together in a silent prayer.
Destruction imminent. T-minus 10 seconds and counting.
Dwalin wrapped an arm around Balin's shoulders and rested his other hand on the back of Ori's neck. "No regrets."
Destruction imminent. T-minus 5 seconds and counting.
Ori's fingers flew over the keys.
Destruction imminent. T-minus 4 seconds and counting.
A fresh line of code filled the prompt bar.
Destruction imminent. T-minus 3 seconds and counting.
The corner of his mouth twitched slightly.
Destruction imminent. T-minus 2 seconds and counting.
Ori hit the enter key.
Destruction imminent. T-minus 1 second and counting.