(a/n: Here you go, a new chapter. Enjoy!)
Ch.2: Little Sister, Big Sister
The bathysphere came to a rocky halt. Artemis, Wally and Jack were jostled around by the sphere's rocking.
When the sphere finally settled, Jack flipped a switch on the wall of the sphere and the door swung open. Jack hopped out of the sphere and breathed in the artificial air of Rapture saying "No place like home".
When Artemis climbed out of the sphere, she noticed how radically different Rapture was.
For starters, they were in a different metro station than before. But that station was cleaner and a little more put together.
Now, the station they were in was a complete mess.
Moss, coral and luminous undersea plants grew all over the metal walls and pillars of the metro station. Barnacles covered the ceiling and seawater flowed down the front steps like a waterfall into a deep pool. Soggy old luggage bobbed and floated around the deep pool of ocean water.
Artemis noticed that the walls were eroded and colored differently. The station looked like the sea was slowly claiming Rapture, piece by little piece. Lamps flickered on and off, the only light fully illuminating the station were the glowing plants that were growing from the floor and the walls.
Jack frowned and said quietly "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but this city has gotten even crappier".
Artemis nodded in agreement. Wally glanced at Jack "You got that radio?"
"Yep" said Jack, pulling out a small bulky radio from his suit jacket. It was the same radio that they used to communicate with Tenenbaum and Atlas.
Wally told Jack "Search for a signal, if your mom is down here, than maybe she has a radio"
"on it" said Jack. He switched on the radio and he began searching through the channels.
Wally and Artemis glanced around the station. It was mostly abandoned and quiet but they knew that there would be Splicers lurking about in the shadows. Artemis saw something at the top of the stairs. She rushed up the stairs to get a better look and she saw a message scrawled on the wall in white paint.
The message read, "Fallen, Fallen is Babylon".
Artemis frowned in confusion and she glanced over at Wally "What do you think it means?"
"I don't know" said Wally "But I don't care. The sooner we find those kids and Tenenbaum, the sooner we can get out of this hellhole"
"Hey!" said Jack indignantly as he climbed up the stairs "This hellhole happens to be my home"
"Sorry" apologized Wally.
Jack smiled "I'm just messing with ya. This place is a hellhole".
The radio crackled and there was a voice speaking through the static "…He…Hello? Can you hear me? Your signal is weak, can you hear me?"
Jack looked at the radio in surprise. It was Tenenbaum.
Jack replied, "Y-Yes, I can hear you. Mom, are you ok?"
"Jack?" said Tenenbaum in shock "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you" said Jack "And for some kids that have gone missing from the surface. I got Wally and Artemis with me"
Tenenbuam sighed deeply "You should not have come. You are all in danger, especially you Jack"
"What is it? What's wrong?" asked Wally.
Tenenbaum hesitated for a moment than said, "I can't explain over the radio."
"Why?" asked Artemis
"She might be listening" said Tenebaum "You need to find me. Come to the Atlantic Express train station, you'll find me there. But be careful, the city is slowly reawakening".
The radio went silent. Wally looked to Artemis "Well now that we found Tenenbaum, all we have to is find those kids and we'll be home before lunch".
Jack slipped the radio back into his pocket saying "Alright then, lets go" he climbed another set of stairs and he started off down a corridor.
Wally and Artemis followed.
The trio walked down a few corridors that were filled with fallen debris and Splicers. Along the walls were brief final messages, scrawled in white paint saying, "Stay away!" or "She is watching"
Jack frowned at the messages saying, "That's comforting".
Artemis inspected the messages saying, "Who's she?"
Jack shrugged "I don't know".
They continued on. Artemis, Jack and Wally climbed some more stairs and went down a hall that was covered in plants and coral that glowed bright pink. Jack tried to open the door but some barnacles blocked it up. He clenched his hand into a fist and he unleashed a small bolt of lightening upon the barnacles.
The barnacles fell away from the door and the door slid open.
Artemis looked at Jack in surprise "You still have your plasmid powers?"
"Yeah" said Jack, flexing his fingers "Mom said the effects are permanent. If I don't use them too much, I won't need to refuel on ADAM or Eve hypo as much as i used to".
Wally nodded in approval "Cool".
On the other side of the door was another corridor. Hanging on the walls were browned and aged advertisements for a place called "Adonis Luxury Resort and Spa".
Jack quoted the advertisements "Rapture's finest spa and getaway. Sounds nice, to bad this whole town's crazy or I might have checked myself in and-" suddenly Jack grabbed his head and doubled over in pain.
Artemis and Wally rushed to his side. "Jack?" said Wally in worry "Are you ok?"
Jack moaned a little and he saw the image of a brown haired girl his age flash before his eyes and a soft voice saying "Jack…"
As quickly as it came, the pain vanished. Jack blinked a few times and he stood up. He breathed, "Ok, that was new"
"What happened?" asked Artemis.
Jack shook his head "No idea but…I think I saw someone"
"Saw someone?" said Wally
Jack nodded "Yeah. It felt like someone was in my head, trying to tell me something. And she looked familiar"
"She?" said Artemis. Jack nodded again. Artemis and Wally looked at each other nervously.
Artemis turned to Jack "Do you think this girl could be the she that these messages and Tenenbaum are talking about?"
Jack shrugged "I don't know, maybe"
"We need to be careful" said Wally "Who knows who this person might be"
Jack nodded "Right". The trio resumed their journey.
After walking through cramped corridors, Jack, Artemis and Wally entered a spacious foyer.
The foyer was covered in dirty, black and white tiles.
In the center of the foyer was a reception desk with a globe of steel with a neon sign that read "Adonis Spa and Resort". Around the foyer were fallen marble pillars styled after ones from Greece and blocking a section of the foyer was a roof styled after the roof of one from the Parthenon.
Jack smiled "Well, it looks like I got my wish".
Suddenly, the three heard a soft humming. They turned and saw a Little Sister a short distance away, gathering ADAM from a Splicer corpse.
Artemis shivered. She never got over seeing a Little Sister the first time. An innocent little girl, transformed into a demented, twisted creature who gathers ADAM from the bodies of the dead and acts like its some sort of game.
Jack approached the little girl to cure her.
As he got close, the little girl stopped and looked up at Jack. A happy smile appeared on her face.
She jumped up and she ran over to Jack then clamped onto his leg. The Little Sister hugged Jack's leg tightly saying, "You're here! She said you would come!"
Jack frowned in confusion "Who said that?"
The little girl just cried happily "You came back! You're home!".
Jack glanced back at Wally and Artemis saying "Anyone else a little creeped out by this?" his two friends nodded.
The Little Sister let go of Jack's leg and she grinned up at him as if he were her big brother who had just recently returned home from a long trip. Jack felt a little creeped out but he knelt down and moved to cure her but suddenly an eerie screech filled the air.
Artemis, Jack, Wally and the Little Sister flinched and covered their ears.
When the screech died, the Little Sister looked around the foyer in fear.
She looked up at Jack saying in a frightened tone "Big Sister doesn't want you playing with me"
"Big Sister?' said Wally
"That doesn't sound good" said Artemis.
Suddenly, a shape landed on the reception desk and crushed it beneath its weight. The three turned and saw that it looked like a Big Daddy, but it was not.
The new comer looked like a Big Daddy but it was a world different from the hulking beasts. The figure standing before them was lithe, tall, wore less heavy gear and had a red light coming from the porthole on its helmet. On its back was a basket cage with ribbons attached.
The Little Sister backed away whimpering "Big Sister".
Jack scowled at the Big Sister saying, "Who are you?"
The Big Sister launched herself into the air and moved to impale Jack with the long, sharp needle attached to her arm.
Quickly, Jack used telekinesis to hold the Big Sister in mid air and toss her across the foyer. The Big Sister landed gracefully on her feet and let out an eerie screech.
Jack, Artemis and Wally winced in pain as the shrill scream echoed around the foyer.
The Big Sister growled and launched a barrage of fireballs. Jack shot them down with small bursts of ice.
As Jack kept the Big Sister at bay, Artemis and Wally began searching for a weapon. Wally spotted a discarded pistol. The speedster scooped it up and checked the clip. It only had a few bullets left. Wally took aim and he fired at the Big Sister.
Some of the shots bounced harmlessly off of the Big Sister's helmet but the rest missed.
The Big Sister turned to Wally. She cocked her head and she hurled a fireball at him. Wally quickly dodged and took cover behind a fallen marble pillar.
Artemis spotted a neglected machine gun nearby. She scrambled towards it. As she made her way to the gun, Jack sailed overhead and collided with one of the many pillars. He slumped to the floor.
Artemis glanced back and saw the Big Sister zeroing in on her.
Hastily, Artemis sprinted to the gun. She was just inches away when the Big Sister jumped into her path and knocked her over with single swing of her arm.
Artemis was knocked to the ground and the Big Sister pinned her to the floor with her boot.
The archer stared up at the crimson lights of the Big Sister, her heart pounded away in her chest. The Big Sister raised her needle and was about to drive it through Artemis's head when suddenly the Big Sister was knocked away by a large figure.
Artemis scrambled away and when she turned around, she was taken by surprise by what she saw. The archer saw a Big Daddy wrestling with the Big Sister.
The Big Daddy overpowered the Big Sister pretty easily.
Artemis watched as the Big Daddy chucked the Big Sister across the foyer. The Big Sister crashed to the floor and quickly got back up.
The Big Sister hissed at the Big Daddy like a feral animal then retreated through an open doorway behind her.
Artemis saw the Big Daddy turn to her and stare at her for a few moments. She didn't know weather to thank him or to run away before he attacked.
The Big Daddy droned something that sounded like a question. Artemis stammered "I-Uh, thanks for helping me"
The Big Daddy nodded slowly. Wally got up from behind the fallen pillar and said "That was amazing"
Jack got up, rubbing his head "What happened?" Artemis explained to Jack and Jack looked to the Big Daddy in surprise.
The Big Daddy stared at Jack for a moment then reached over and patted Jack on the head.
Jack frowned in confusion "Uh…Have we met?" the Big Daddy nodded a little.
Jack cocked an eyebrow "Really? Huh, forgive me if I don't remember your name right away. I haven't been in Rapture in a very long time and the memories are slowly coming back to me."
"His name is Delta" said Tenenbaum.
Jack pulled out the radio and Tenenbaum explained, "I asked him to help you. He has lost something and I am going to help him get it back. For now, you must work together to survive. Rapture is even more dangerous than the last time you were here"
"You got that right" muttered Artemis.
Wally asked, "What the heck was that thing?"
"A Big Sister" answered Tenenbaum "I can't say more until you get to Atlantic Express Train station". The radio went dead.
Jack sighed and rubbed his throbbing head "This day gets better and better".
Delta pointed toward the door the Big Sister escaped through and droned. Artemis nodded "Yeah, it looks like our best bet to get out of here".
Wally shrugged "Why not?"
Artemis picked up the machine gun and Wally pocketed his pistol. With that, Delta, Artemis, Jack and Wally marched through the doorway the Big Sister retreated through.
End of chapter.
(a/n: It's not much, but i hoped you enjoyed it. Please review!)