To say that David hurt would be an understatement, the bite mark on his arm was killing him, there was a good chance his ribs had been broken in the struggle with the insane Splicer, and his gunshot wound had reopened. A Splicer squealed as David's metal pipe caved in the side of its head. He might be hurting but he wasn't going down without a fight.
He found himself back to back with Barney; the crazed Splicer had a cleaver in each hand and was actively insulting the Splicers that he killed. David was somewhat less skilled at killing Splicers in close combat. While the rat faced Splicer moved almost fluidly spinning his blades in a dance of death, David just swung his pipe with all of his might his left arm hanging limply at his side.
Gunshots echoed around the room as Thompson and the remaining "friendly" Splicers were backed into a corner. Though they were greatly outnumbered they didn't relent, still firing into the horde intent on taking as many of the hostile Splicers with them as they could.
More Splicers spilled into the room; many simply ran past the defenders and entered the storage room. Judging from the sound of combat coming from inside, they stopped cooperating soon after entering.
Infighting was beginning to spread amongst the horde as the squabbled over who got the Adam. David was sure that if it wasn't for the Splicers fracturing unity he would have been killed already. A Splicer swung a wooden board with nails sticking out of it at David's head. He ducked the sloppy blow and the nail board found itself imbedded in the face of another Splicer. This quickly caused the entire group surrounding him to go into frenzy, attacking each other with reckless abandon.
David and Benji took the opportunity the infighting presented and began attempting to hack a path through the horde to rejoin their allies. An unexpected noise from the entranceway stopped them in their tracks…a shotgun blast.
The horde quieted briefly, as confused by the new noise as the defenders. In that brief quiet David recognized a sound he had hoped to never hear again, the crazed mindless screaming of a rogue Alpha Series. "Oh come on!"
He didn't know what drew the beast there, if it was the smell of Adam, the sound of combat, or possibly the beast looking for a way to end its life, but at this point David didn't care. Screaming insanely the monster plowed into the room, trampling several Splicers underfoot. A Splicer dove at the beast only to be backhanded away almost contemptuously, the creature advanced further into the room crushing the Splicer it had hit in the process.
Seemingly oblivious to the bullets impacting its armored bulk the beast turned to the nearest Splicer and grabbed it by the head. Before the unfortunate woman could react the beast spun her around and used her as a crude weapon against the other Splicers. David hadn't needed to hear the sharp crack of her neck to know she was dead.
Bellowing a challenge for all, the beast dropped the woman's body and turned towards the only thing returning the challenging roar. Dom shoved his way through the masses beady eyes fixated on the metal behemoth whose authority he was challenging. His fist impacting the beast's helmet gave a resounding gong. Stumbling backwards the beast growled before responding in kind.
Faster then Dom could react the beast lashed out with its left arm, slamming its mammoth fist into Dom's unprotected stomach. As Dom doubled over gasping for air the monster pulled its right hand back. With a roar of victory the beast viciously uppercut Dom's chin, there was a resounding bang and Dom's life ended. In a spray of gore his head exploded outward stunning everyone in the room.
Turning from the headless Splicer and its fall to the ground, David turned his attention to the metal abomination. There was a series of metal clanks. The moment the clanking stopped the beast spun and punched a Splicer in the chest. Again there was a resounding bang and the Splicer collapsed to the ground, its torso blown open.
As the beast spun to attack another Splicer the horde surged forth, screaming in anger they attacked the monster. Unfazed the failed experiment attacked viciously, swinging punishing blows at any Splicer unfortunate enough to find itself in its way. Again there was the sound of metal clanking and again once it stopped the beast shot its right hand forward, fist impacting a Splicer's nose, there was a barely perceptible pause before the Splicer's head exploded with a bang.
David felt a surge of dread as he realized what was happening. The beast had some kind of shotgun attached to its arm, when it punched the shotgun went off utterly destroying its target. Judging from the mechanical noises he heard after the beast attacked, it had some sort of automatic reloader built into its suit.
David pulled out his crossbow; he'd had ridiculous strokes of luck with that thing and was hoping for another miracle. Trying his best to remain calm he aimed and fired at the cracked glass of the beast's visor. With a thunk the metal tipped bolt impacted the beast's visor and glanced off.
David felt himself pale as the beast turned towards him, shoving Splicers out of the way it began to wade its way through the horde.
"Crap, crap, crap!" Desperately fumbling with his next bolt, David began to reload his crossbow.
"Craaaaaaaap!" A brute of a Splicer attacked the metal behemoth. It responded by snapping the brute's neck barely breaking stride.
"Oh shit, oh shit!" David's trembling hands betrayed him as they failed to line the bolt into its place.
David raised his weapon triumphantly…only for the metal monster to tear it from his grasp and toss it aside. "Oh crap…"The beast wasn't one for wasting time it seemed, with a crunch its fist slammed into David's face.
()
With practiced ease Tony disassembled his LMG, checking every component carefully for signs of wear and tear. As he had expected it was in excellent condition. A slight noise drew his attention to Harper; the weedy little man had a plate with a sandwich on it. Judging from his hopeful expression he was giving him it as a peace offering.
"Keep your sandwich peewee; if I was hungry I'd get myself something." The little man visibly wilted as his hopes were crushed, Tony suppressed a smirk.
()
Sandy lay on the bed she had claimed, alone in the dark. Soft sobs passed her lips. She couldn't get it out of her mind, the monsters cancerous tongue running along her cheek, its deformed hands groping her, the ease with which it overpowered her. She could still feel the monster's leg in between hers, putting pressure on her most vulnerable area.
Its sibilant voice replayed itself over and over in her head calling her soft, calling her weak. The dank almost musty smell it had was stuck in her mind. A tear dripped down her cheek winding up in the long cut that traced the side of her face…his mark…his gift.
Sandy curled up in a ball and let the tears come, she had never felt so alone…so unclean.
()
Harper stared forlornly at his rejected gift, once more safe in the confines of his room. He didn't understand Tony's hatred of him, he wasn't a soldier, he couldn't be held to that standard. In his mind it had worked out differently, Tony had taken the peace offering graciously and they had talked. Harper had asked Tony to train him and the man had accepted. Of course in this fantasy Harper spoke boldly and confidently, reality was much different.
He lay on his bed with a sigh, tossing the sandwich away. He could hear the broken sobs coming from the poor girl's room. He wanted to go in, to comfort her, to help. He didn't though, he knew it would have ended badly; he would have said something stupid or made her worse. He closed his eyes in hopeless frustration, how were you supposed to show people you meant well when you could barely speak a sentence without stuttering?
He briefly contemplated telling the others about Sandy but thought better of it, what was the point of talking when no one listened?
()
With a crunch the monster slammed into the far wall, it twitched once then died with a gurgle. Ducking under a makeshift axe that was hurled at her, Theta lashed out with her foot. The monster crumpled to the ground, neck bent at an awkward angle.
Theta ignored the other monsters that were not an immediate threat and resumed her mad dash towards her friend. She could hear the enraged roars of a Bad Daddy she knew that David and the Splicers wouldn't have stood a chance against the monster. She just hoped they were still alive…she didn't know what she would do if David was dead…
()
Banes ripped his clever from the side of a Splicer's face, spitting on it as it collapsed. Hearing a whistling noise he ducked under the sloppy blow of another Splicer before spinning around. Snarling savagely he tore both his cleavers through the hostile Splicer's neck. He couldn't help grinning as the man collapsed to his knees, desperately trying to hold his throat.
The rogue Daddy ran by, tackling an unfortunate Splicer to the ground before landing a series of devastating punches on its unprotected face. Banes gave it a wide birth; he wasn't an idiot he wasn't going to piss off something that could tear him in half with no effort. Apparently that idiot human hadn't shared his philosophy…oh well.
Sharp eyes finding an unsuspecting Splicer Banes sprinted at it, laughing at the Splicer's imminent death he jumped into the air. Landing on the woman's shoulders Banes swung downwards with all his might. His cleavers caved in her skull, spewing bits of shattered bone, brain, and blood. "Come on you cunt! Was that the best you got?"
Unfortunately before he could continue his insults, he had many more just waiting to be unleashed, something hit the back of his head…hard. Blearily he turned over glaring at the manic Splicer that was hefting the metal chair of a leg. "Come on you little shit! Finish it!" Happily the Splicer obliged, raising the weapon over its head it screamed some form of battle cry.
As the Splicer swung its improvised weapon towards Bane's head everything seemed to slow. His sharp eyes caught sight of something gracefully flipping through the air. By now familiar shriek echoing around the room the Guardian made its presence known. It landed in a crouch and slammed its hand into the ground, a wave of telekinetic force surged out from around the point of impact tossing Splicers through the air as if they weighed nothing. Happily that included his would be killer.
Banes leapt to his feet teeth bared, things looked like they were about to get fun!
()
Theta flipped forward, body slamming a monster into the wall. With practiced ease she shoved her harvester into the creature's spine. Twisting it for good measure she pulled the mammoth needle free letting the paralyzed monster fall to the floor.
Seeing several monsters grouped together, obviously working up the courage to attack her, Theta acted first. Hands alight with the glow of fire she thrust her hands forward. The monsters agonized screams made her and her sister perched on her back giggle.
A sudden bang interrupted her brief amusement; the Bad Daddy was running towards her a pulped monster left in its wake. Alarmed with the suddenness of the attack, Theta did the only thing she could do. She thrust her hands forward and stopped its fist in mid swing. Unfortunately it seemed that the force of impacting the barrier she had put up was enough to trigger the, until that moment unnoticed, gun on the fallen knight's wrist.
Pain tore into her belly as the shotgun's pellets pierced her suit and entered her body. That Daddy had a punchgun! She'd always wanted one of those! Ducking under the beast's next swing Theta began her attack. Dancing around the mindlessly screaming entity, she used her superior speed to her advantage.
Before she could lure it far enough away from the others to feel safe executing her plan a monster landed on the Dark Knight's shoulders. What the hell did Ratface think he was doing? Laughing insanely the monster slammed his cleavers repeatedly into the oxygen tank of the Bad Daddy. After several seconds of seemingly being oblivious to the attack the rogue protector acted. It contemptuously grabbed the monster and tossed him across the room.
Before Theta could once again attempt to enact her plan the monster finished its. Laughing with crazed glee the monster sent a small spark towards the Daddy.
"BOOM!"
BOOM!
()
Theta hurt…all over…
Standing slowly she couldn't help whimpering as the various pieces of metal healed into her body gave her twinges of agony. The rogue Daddy's pulped remains steamed before her, reminding her of Ratface's idiocy. She had been planning on doing the same thing that it had done, except away from anyone who might have been hurt in the process.
"Sissy that was loud…"Theta felt fear grip her as she pulled Amanda from her perch on her back, happily the little girl appeared to only be dazed from the explosion.
Stupid monster! What if he had hurt…with a concerned shriek Theta fell to the ground moving the many corpses searching desperately for her missing friend.
"Oh man…did you see that?" Shut up shut up shut up!
"I just totally saved your ass!" Be quiet!
"The way his upper body just popped!" Theta started to whimper slightly, she couldn't find him!
"That just made my week!" There! A hand moved amongst the corpses.
Diving towards the movement Theta began hastily attempting to unbury the survivor. Disappointment flooded her veins as she pulled the survivor to the surface. It was just the stupid doctor! "Oh Thompson you survived? Damn, there goes my perfect day."
The recently unburied monster shot Ratface a halfhearted glare. "Bite me you rodentesque prick."
"Oh yeah? Well at least I didn't-" The Ratfaced monster was silenced as Theta tore off her helmet and hurled it at his head. Struggling to hold back tears she began to desperately search once more for her lost friend.
She didn't notice as Amanda hopped off of her shoulders and began "helping" the angels. It wasn't fair; a soft sob passed her lips, the first person to treat her like an innocent, like an equal, like a human was lying quite possibly dead somewhere in this room. Theta could feel the doctor monster's fascinated gaze boring into her back, seemingly shocked by her display of emotion and concern for her friend.
Desperately shaking her head in denial, she moved to another part of the room. Again all she found were dead monsters and broken machinery. Sudden movement caught Theta's eye, with a happy shriek she dove towards the movement. A monster lay before her, having shifted the body of a she-beast off of his. Rage clouded Theta's vision; with a wet crunch she crushed the monster's windpipe with her armored boot.
Rage quickly transformed into crushing sadness. Defeated Theta fell to the ground sobbing. She'd failed her friend, she'd let her cowardice get the best of her and had abandoned him when he needed her most. With a shriek of impotent rage she slammed her fist onto the metal floor, gaining only a small amount of satisfaction from the feeling of her hand shattering.
"Damn is it her time of the month or something?" Both the doctor monster and Theta ignored Ratface's inane comment.
A dead monster's vacant eyes were staring at her; she crushed its head with a flick of her wrist. She was sorry, she was so sorry! She'd been an idiot! She should have gone with him in the first place…if she had he wouldn't be dead.
"Mr. Ordinary…what are you doing with the angels?"
()
Banes fought down the urge to vomit as the vassal stumbled across that idiot humans body…his breathing body. "Oh come on! Why the hell does he have to be alive?"
In a flash the Guardian was next to its charge, tear stained face staring hopefully at the fallen human. Banes barely contained a surge of disgust…just when he'd thought he'd had the perfect end to a perfect day.
The vassal poked tentatively at the comatose human's face, provoking a sleepy snort and bat of the hand. As she giggled happily her sister acted, with another sob the Guardian dove at the injured human wrapping him in a tight hug. The human woke instantly with a pained gasp. His voice weak he desperately hit the Guardian's back. "Ribs ribs ribs ribs!"
With something that sounded suspiciously like a sheepish giggle, the Guardian released the human beaming down at him like he was the fucking space pope or something. Smiling slightly despite the pain he was in the human nodded to the Guardian. "Am I correct in assuming you just saved my ass like always?"
With a teary laugh the Guardian nodded, smiling through her tears. Banes leaned against the wall, paying more attention to the female Guardian then he had before. She may be a fucked up sociopath freak monster but she was kind of cute. She promptly ruined his brief assessment of her assets by leaning forward and resting her forehead against the human's eyes closed peacefully.
With a snort of disgust Banes took it upon himself to break up the disgustingly happy reunion, after all Thompson was too shocked to do anything himself. "Unless you want to take on those Splicers again once they regroup I'd suggest leaving." He paused grinning cruelly. "You know…we could always leave Davy Boy behind as a distraction."
The Guardian simply answered with a sharp glare. Motioning her charge to climb back atop her shoulders, she helped David to his feet. Helping to support the injured human she walked away from Thompson and Banes without a backwards glance, catching her helmet as it flew through the air into her waiting hand.
()
O'Neil giggled to himself as he saw the defenders readying themselves to leave. He turned and ran down the hallway to the first door he could find. Pulling the door open he stepped inside. Upon noticing there was no handle on the other side he was careful not to latch the door, lest his clever plan fail.
It was so simple! He giggled at the fact that no one else had thought of it. All he had to do was wait until they left and he would be able to steal all the Adam he could ever need! As the defenders passed his hiding spot he clamped his hands over his mouth, stifling the uproarious laugh he had felt building.
Slight movement sounded from deeper in the room. He wasn't alone. That was hilarious! Laughing at the sheer humor of the situation he was in he pulled out his lighter. After several seconds of fumbling he managed to light a small flame. Its wavering light illuminated the emaciated form of the room's occupant. It was tall, unnaturally so, but bone thin. It was just skin and bones…and softly glowing yellow eyes.
It took a step towards him and stumbled, falling to the ground. O'Neil could barely breathe from the sheer comic gold the creature was oozing! It hissed slightly as it stood shakily. Hilarious! O'Neil was doubled over gasping for air. This thing was a comic genius!
The creature growled revealing sharpened teeth. What a joker! He couldn't help himself as he leaned against the door gasping for breath, tears streaming from his eyes. The beast paused as it saw the door open slightly against O'Neil's weight.
Cunning flashed briefly in its eyes and it charged at the Splicer teeth bared. It was surprisingly strong and tackled O'Neil into the hallway. The creature pulled its clawed hand back preparing to strike at the laughing Splicer.
With a savage shriek it struck spilling fresh blood in the corpse ridden hallway. Amidst his screams O'Neil laughed. He laughed as his lungs filled with blood. He laughed as the creature sank its teeth into his neck. He laughed as it tore into his intestines. And why wouldn't he laugh? It was fucking hilarious!
Say hello to Rapture's newest nightmare. This should be fun.
As always thank you for reading and please reveiw.