Welcome back to hell.
"Always do what you are afraid to do."-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Columbia and Rapture where as alike as they where different. One was on the sky, the other at the bottom of the ocean, one centered around religion, the other around the amount a man us due. But they're both filled with madmen.
When we came through the tear, I was surprised to find myself on The First Lady Airship of all places. Only this time we where in the back room, along with Lady Comstock's dress. "We're here...this is..." Elizabeth started, not sure how to word it.
I nodded, "Yeah...I know the feeling...okay, so where can we find this Lutece Particle thing?" I asked, wanting to get out of here ASAP. I didn't want to run into my or Elizabeth's past selves. That would be to hard to explain.
Elizabeth turned towards the lift on the right side of the room, "This way. " she said, climbing onto the lift. I joined her and clicked the button, " The airship uses a reactor to channel the particle throughout the the body of the ship, without it, it's just a big paperweight." she explained as the lift came to a stop on the the reactor level.
I immediately recognized the machine, I've destroyed a few of them to bring down a zeppelin. "Did Comstock not hear of something called helium? I mean I'm not complaining of anything, but why go through all the trouble?" I asked.
Approaching the reactor, Elizabeth began to look for something, "Well the original First Lady Airship did. But it was easily destroyed by a lone Vox sniper. Unfortunately the Prophet himself wasn't on it." she explained. Give that man a medal though, seriously, I can only imagine how much that pissed Comstock off.
Elizabeth opened a compartment in the reactor, "Are you sure you should be messing around with a reactor of all things? I mean I want to get bit by a radioactive spider as much as the next guy bit still." I joked.
Elizabeth gave me a blank look, "Do I want to know what your talking about?" she asked, a bit of humor in her voice.
I covered my face with my hand, "Forget I said anything. So what does this thing look like?" I asked, beginning to help her in her search.
"It should look like a metal cylinder with a rotating on the top." she said, "I'm looking for the spare one, if we took the one that's in the reactor now then...well we've messed around enough in alternate dimensions as much as it is." she explained.
Yeah that's a good point, though I gotta say I wouldn't mind visiting a choice few. Like the one where Star Wars is real, that's everyone's dream come true right there. Moving aside a few tools, I found a small metal cylinder, "Hey, is this it?" I asked as I held the metal.
Elizabeth grinned, "Perfect! Now let's get outta here." she said as we headed back to the lift. When we reached the bottom floor, we immediately headed for the tear but it wouldn't open. On the other side was a screen with Suchong's face.
"Not done yet! You two, find sample." he said. I looked at Elizabeth warily, usually us doing other people's work does not end well.
"Open up the tear Suchong. We got your machine working, we don't owe you shit." I yelled into the tear. "Patrick, can you find a way to open it?" I asked.
"Sorry. Nothing I can do, the only controls for it are the leaver, he's gotta have control for it in his office or something." He said. Shit, he's got us by our necks.
I let out a sigh, "Ok, what sample?" I asked the monitor. How hard could it be right? I mean it's not like we gotta find guns for him like with Daisy.
"Need girls hair." Oh for fucks sake!
Elizabeth looked disgusted, "You have to be joking. I am not giving you my-" she started. I fully agreed, that's like the first sign of a stalker and it's super duper creepy.
"Not your hair! Fink's subject hair!" he explained exasperatedly, "Fink have secret lab, hair sample in tube in lab. You find, give to me." he said. Wait, him and Fink? Son of a bitch, he and Fink must have shared secrets, Vigors and Plasmids, EVE and Salts.
Constants and Variables.
Elizabeth let out a long sigh, "Great...I guess we have to go find this lab now." she said depressingly. This is gonna be a pain in the ass, but I might as well her this over with.
Opening the door to the cockpit, we checked to make sure the coast was clear, out the window was Finkton, red banners flowing in the wigs across buildings. "The...past us, must be on their way to see Daisy right now." I guessed.
Elizabeth nodded, "I don't hear any shooting outside. We must not be here yet." she said as we approached the door, peeking outside, I saw that the coast was clear. I nodded to Elizabeth and we snuck out of the ship.
I quickly went to the door at the end of the hall, locked. Shit. Elizabeth tapped my shoulder and pointed to a open ventilation duct, "Of course. And with my luck, I'll fall through." I said as I climbed into the duct after Elizabeth.
As we crawled through the cramped space, I kept a ear out fir any signs of this thing ready to fall apart. I may not be the heaviest man on the planet but these things aren't made to hold people.
"Someone is coming." Shit! Did we...wait...that's Rosalind. Crawling further into the ducts, the panel on the side showed the most shocking group I've seen.
Daisy Fotzroy and the Lutece twins. Beside Daisy was Fink tied up, blindfolded, and ears covered along with the child me and her saved. Elizabeth and I didn't make a sound as they talked, "She'll arrive a girl."
"She must leave a woman."
"And what is the difference between a girl and a woman?" Rosalind asked.
For obvious reasons, I'm going to chose to leave my snarky comments to myself even though I know what the answer to that is.
Daisy looked back at her captives, "Blood." she answered simply. Holy shit...Daisy had to have Elizabeth kill her...
I looked at Elizabeth's face and saw the pure shock in her eyes, "Turn the girl into a killer? How?" Daisy questioned the two.
"Give the girl no choice."
"So that she'll be forced to make one."
Daisy shook her head, "And you two know for sure that they'll finish off Comstock?" she asked. She knows? How much though?
"Yes." they both replied at once before disappearing. Daisy stood there and shook her head for a moment before retreating into the shadows. I turned to Elizabeth to see her scampering out if the vent.
Catching up to her, I found her outside of the vent in a room against the wall shaking. I climbed down and walked over to her and reached out, "Elizabeth." I said, making her look over her shoulder at me.
She had tears going down her face but she wasn't sobbing, she wasn't sad, she was angry. "They just...they just told her to let herself die. And for what? Just for us to kill Comstock?" she asked critically.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, "Elizabeth... I think...I think it's what she wanted." I said trying to make sense of this whole situation.
She shook her head, "She wanted Comstock to pay for what he's done and...and I killed her...I killed her so that what? I'd be ready to kill him?" she asked me, unsure of almost everything now.
I wrapped myself around her, trying to comfort her, "Elizabeth...if you hadn't, you wouldn't have had that determination to finish Comstock...I don't agree with what they did...but..." but she needed it.
If she never did kill Daisy, we would have just left for Paris the moment I freed her from that 'surgery'. Elizabeth wiped the tears off her face, "Comstock needed to die...but I wasn't ready to face it then...but I am now...because if that." she said in understanding.
I gave Elizabeth a kiss on the forehead, "That's right...and because of Daisy's sacrifice, we ended this." I explained as best I could. Elizabeth nodded but just stayed in my arms for a few.
When we pulled away, we exited the room to find a group of Vox Populi coming around the corner and staring at us.
"Crap in a hat." I muttered, before I could draw my gun, they looked at the two of us in shock, not even raising their guns.
"Y-your Jacob Harper! The hero of the Vox!" one exclaimed. What? Ohhh yeahhh! Daisy hasn't put out the word on us yet!
"Yeah, me and my friend here are on a mission to find Fink's lab. I was thinking that there's some new Vigors we pulled get." I explained, Elizabeth caught on to my plan and smiled.
"You guys know which way to it? We just got here from down below in Finkton." she added. She's really gotten the hang if this, I'm impressed.
One of the guys nodded, "Sure thing ma'm." he pointed towards the office building that the past us will come from, "Just head in there, take the door on the left of the front desk, and that should lead you to the testing rooms, best place to start." he informed us.
I gave him my thanks and we headed for the office building. "Okay, that was to good to be true." I said as we entered the building and fallowed the mans directions.
Elizabeth smiled, "I can't believe our luck back there. Of course you know that we're gonna have something equity bad happen to us right?" she asked.
I deflated a bit, "Based off of our past experiences? Definitely." I said, nodding in agreement. Entering the did, I looked down over the railing, "Am I the only one seeing a giant clock on the floor?" I asked.
The clock spanned the entire floor, in the center of the room was the hand, ticking away time and actually moving. There where four doors in the ground level, each of them at a direction like on a compass.
The tick-tick confirmed it, the clock was real, "It looks looks like a lock that unlocks when Fink wants it to. See?" she asked as the large hand pointed to a door, opening it.
I chuckled, "Can't be a key can it? So what? We can't just wait for the thing to go to 'work'. We're not on a schedule but still." We didn't have a lot of time until me and Elizabeth showed up and wasted the Vox upstairs.
Elizabeth shook her head as she inspected the clock in the center, "See this? It's like a keyhole, we find the key, and we can unlock any one we want." she said, looking to the 'sleep' door.
Entering the room I froze. Above his bed, Fink installed monitors that flashed images of Columbia. "Fuck that's creepy. " I said, Elizabeth said nothing but nodded in agreement.
"Maybe Fink should have seen a doctor." she said. That's a big yes, looking over to the glass case, inside was the key. Smashing the case and grabbing it, we rushed back to the clock room and put the key in place.
I put my hands in the positions that it had, and cranked, "Christ, this must be his daily exercise." I said as the hand turned. Who knew a small man like Fink could crank this every day?
When the hand landed on 'work' the doors opened. Elizabeth smiled while I caught my breath, "Great. Now to get that idiot his lock of hair." she said as we entered the elevator at the end of the hall.
As we descended down the shaft, I heard something, "You hear that?" I asked. Elizabeth nodded and put her finger to her lips.
"Look I got you your guns, we're here for our Airship." Oh crap...
The glass window on our elevator showed us the other one stuck in place. Inside was...holy crap this is creepy. I saw the younger me and Elizabeth talking to Daisy over the intercom, their voices where muffled so I couldn't hear exactly what they where saying but I already knew what they where saying.
I am him after all.
I looked over to Elizabeth, she had this look on her face that I couldn't quite understand, as we pasted them, I felt like we just avoided the most awkward conversation in anyone's life.
When I felt Elizabeth grab my hand, I liked over to her saddened face. "I missed you...you have no idea how much...every day, I thought of what we went through together...your the only one who ever...your my only friend, Jacob.."
I gave her hand a squeeze, "I missed you too...and I'm sorry...if I could...I'd go back and find you...I'd take you to Paris , just like you wanted...and then we'd go dancing...out to dinner...and I'd walk you home." I said smiling at the plan I had since I got home.
Elizabeth slowly wrapped her arms around me and I did the same. "I love you...I love you so much." I whispered.
I could feel her small smile, "I know...I love you too." she whispered back before planting a kiss on my lips. We broke apart as the elevator doors opened, but we held each other a little longer.
Entering the room we saw it was covered in Vox ribbons. Three members of the Vox saw us and drew their guns. Oh right, they're not on our side anymore. Great.
I sent a murder of crows at them, stunning them long enough for me to put some hand cannon rounds in them. "Just like the old days right?" I asked. Elizabeth nodded. The door was locked so we turned a corner on a wall and fallowed the hall to a large room with Vox and a big ass golden statue of Fink.
Right. Big Ego.
Taking care of the first man, I grabbed his carbine without any of the others noticing. Elizabeth saw a man on the upper level and aimed her crossbow, she pulled the trigger and it hit him straight in the neck.
I gave her a look of approval, she gave it back, "Four more, two down there, two upstairs. You take the ones up there I take them down?" she asked, pointing to men by the statue. I didn't want her to think because she got one good shot in that she's a pro now.
"Wait until I take them out, and I'll cover you." I bargained. She nodded as I made my way towards the stairs. Climbing the flight, I came across one inspecting their downed friend, I swept his legs out from user him and put my Air Grabber into his neck.
I used the Carbine to peg the other one, looking over the railing I saw the remaining two about to fore at me when one fell, before the other one could act, he did too.
I used a freight hook to land on the bottom floor safely, "Nice going Elizabeth!" I said in mild admiration.
She blushed at my praise, "I think we may find the hair sample that way." she said, pointing to a sign called 'Imprinting Studies'.
Heading through the a odd amount of doors, we came to one that was locked. Luckily the Vox crashed through the windows, boarding the small gunship, we used a freight hook to land on a ledge.
Entering through a broken window we froze, "Holy shit." In front of us where what appeared to be models of the Big Daddy and Songbird. "Guess they shared more than Vigor names huh?"
Elizabeth nodded, "Like the Luteces, cross reality collaboration." she muttered as we passed some designs for Big Daddies. Entering a projector room, I clicked it on, it showed a movie of a Big Daddy through a tear.
"It all makes a kind of sense...the Big Daddies and Little Sisters are like Songbird and me." she said as we watched the video.
Passing through a pair of doors, we found a room full of cages for smaller animals, beyond that was a staircase which led to the actual Imprinting Studies. Inside was a gorilla in a case with some crazy headgear, "Ok, gotta see what the hell this is about." I said as I pulled the lever in front of it.
A small compartment opened in the cage and a girl shaped wire came out. "Wait, I think I've seen this somewhere.." I can't remember though.
Elizabeth crossed her arms, "It's a wire mother, when you separate a baby gorilla from its mother it'll imprint on almost anything." she explained.
Who the hell would separate a...oh right.
"So what does Fink have to gain from this?" I asked. He usually only did something if there was a profit to be made.
"Songbird, he wanted him to imprint on me." she said distantly as she stared at the wire doll.
I let out a laugh, "Last time I checked, that was not a issue at all." Elizabeth smirked at my response. Making our way through the room, I pushed open the doors to the next to find something disturbing. And saying that about Columbia means a lot.
"Sweet mother of god..." inside the room there where...god knows how many glass cases filled with decaying animals Elizabeth choked back a gasp, "These poor things, Fink couldn't get them to imprint, so he left them to die."
I felt my gag reflex being tested, "I think my brain just vomited." we ran quickly through the room with the smell of decaying flesh and into the next.
On a chalkboard it read, "Imprinting failed? That's not right, obviously he formed a bond with me." she said, reading the chalkboard.
I raised a eye, "Hey, how did he meet you? I mean I can't imagine you just walking up one morning to find him leering over you." I joked, that's the worst Christmas present ever.
She shook her head, "I don't know I just remember him always being there." she explained as we passed into the next room.
In it, my heart nearly stopped, "What the fuck is that?!" I asked in surprised. On the other side of the reinforced glass was what looked like a skelington of Songbird.
"Must be a prototype. Don't worry, It's just a head, what harm could it do?" she asked, entering the room with songbird but going around him.
I was hesitant but I passed right in front of him. He was just focused on the pictures the projector was showing him. Elizabeth walked to the end of the room and picked up a paper on a desk, "They tried hypnotherapy." she said in surprise.
We both let out a chuckle at that. And the only way forward was...another air vent. How new and exciting.
...
Exiting the small space, I landed in a dark room, Elizabeth was right behind me, the only thing I could clearly see was a projector, clicking it on, the title came on.
'Songbird imprinting on Subject'
In it, a damaged songbird was on the ground, his oxygen hose was like a firehose and was wiggling about. Then...a small girl came out from the corner, "Jacob...that's me." she said in shock.
I gotta say Elizabeth was a cute kid.
The young Elizabeth tentatively approached the Songbird, "I remember now...he -he crashed into my tower...he must have been in some sort of fight." she said as she recalled the events.
On the film, little Elizabeth connected the tube back into place, "I stood there thinking... I don't know, that something would happen...but he just laid there." she said sadly. I put my arm around her, little Elizabeth tried to get him up but she couldn't, she begun to walk away when the Songbird laid out his hand.
Little Elizabeth rushed in and hugged his thumb, meanwhile my Elizabeth just shook her head, "I should have just left him there to die, then none of this...You, me, Comstock, Sally...it's like a wheel of blood spinning round and round." she said bitterly, breaking away from my embrace.
"Elizabeth...this isn't going to go on forever. We stopped the last circle when I killed Comstock. Sally? Sally is just someone caught in the crossfire, it happens all the time." I put my hand on her shoulder, "We are fighting a war Elizabeth, and in every one, there are casualties. Let's make it so that Sally isn't one of them."
Elizabeth looked at me for a moment before nodding, her eyes filled with determination, "Right. Come on let's-" she stopped. Fallowing her line of sight I grinned, on a table with a dozen other things was the hair sample. "That ." she finished.
As we grabbed it I realized something, "Son of a bitch." I muttered, putting my head in my hands.
Elizabeth gave me a worried look, "What's the matter?" she asked with a bit of worry.
"I just realized we could have just snipped off some of your hair, put it in a glass container, and gave it to him." I explained .
Elizabeth let that sink in for a moment, "Could you please hold this?" she asked before handing me the bottle of hair.
She then let out a string of curses that I never could if imagined her saying.
When she was done, she took the bottle off my jaw dropped hands. "Sorry...I had to let that out. Let's go back before I have the urge to break something." she said , opening the door next to the desk.
Cranking the leaver, we heard the doors open along with Vox enter the testing rooms. "Okay, enough sneaking around, the other us are probably fighting the Vox right now. Let's help them out and lower the numbers. Time to go loud and proud." I said boldly.
Charging through the door, the Vox where surprised to see me, "Hello." I sent a bucking bronco at two of then while the other ten went off in other directions. I easily pegged the other two in the air, my shield repelled the bullets that hit my side.
Ducking behind a crate, I lobbed a Devil's Kiss grenade at the three that where shooting at me. Switching to my carbine, I shot another in the legs as he tried to run and get reinforcements, then his back.
The final four of them I took care of with a dowse of undertow and a spark of shock jockey. Elizabeth joined me with ammo in her hands which I graciously took and we retraced our steps to the First Lady Airship.
...
"Do you think she ever had a choice?" Elizabeth asked suddenly. We had easily managed to get back to the elevator leading to Fink's office when she spoke.
"Daisy?" I asked.
She nodded, "Right about now I'm shoving a pair of scissors in her back. Over a child that she never was going to harm in the first place." she stated a matter of factly. "I'm all the worlds, all the universes, did you, me, or her, ever have a choice?"
I thought for a moment, "Yeah. I did. It was my choice to come after you in the first place and I don't regret it. " Elizabeth nodded at my words, "Look Elizabeth, one thing that I've learned, from all if this, is that a man is able to chose, but only a salve obeys." I said wisely.
Elizabeth shook her head, "We're not breaking any circle Jacob. Rapture runs on children, we can't break it on our own. But maybe...maybe we just dent it. Just a little." she said with a bit of hope in her voice.
I smiled at her, "That's the sprit. Now let's take our swing at it." I said as the doors of the elevator opened.
As we re-entered the lobby we both stopped, "Damn...we never did stick around to look at the scene afterwords." I said, getting a nod out of Elizabeth.
Opening the doors to the roof we both froze. In front of us was a Handyman, a Fireman, a Patriot, a Crow, and a Spartan. And we both just walked in right in front of them. "I am fucked."
Before they could move, I sent a Murder of Crows at them. The Handyman and Crow shrugged it off, me and Elizabeth jumped up to the skylines. Landing on the other side of the roof, the first one who caught up to us was the crow with his longsword swinging. I blocked it with my Air Grabber and drew my pistol, when I shot he disappeared.
Shit I'm out of practice. I turned around as he reappeared, but this thine he knocked the air grabber out of my hand and off the damn roof! I ducked under and their swipe and shot him with a undertow, knocking him a good fee feet away.
I shot at him but the Spartan jumped in the way with his metal bones blocking him and sending it right back to me, my shield absorbed the impact. The explosion behind me knocked me forward and told me the Fireman had caught up to me.
I had no idea where Elizabeth was but I knew she wasn't getting smacked around like a rag doll so that's a little comforting. I pushed myself up in time to see a huge shadow. You gotta be fucking joking!
I rolled out of the way as the Handyman crashed down to where I was, getting himself stuck in the process. Before I could get back up, the Crow out his foot on my chest and the Spartan held down my right arm.
NONONONONO! I can't lose now! The Crow is raising his sword above his head, "In the name of Daisy Fitzroy, I hereby slat you in the name of the Vox!"
Before he could drove the sword down, I heard music in my ears, "Jacob! Catch!" I turned to my left and saw Elizabeth throw me a Skyhook. It landed close enough for me to slip it into my hand.
As the Crow brought the sword down, I knocked his feet feet out from under him, making him fall back. Thinking fast, I channeled Shock Jockey through my right hand and into the Spartan, making him cry out.
I hopped back up ok my feet and clubbed him with the Skyhook in the jaw, taking it off in the process. I looked to my right just in time to see the Crow ready another stoke when I ducked once again and pushed him away with my open hand.
He disappeared into a flock of feathers. When he reappeared in front of me I pointed to my chest, "Look down dude." I said simply. He glanced down at his chest and saw the present I left for him.
I put a Devil 'a Kiss mine on his chest.
"Bye bye." I said cheekily as it blew. I turned to Elizabeth's direction, "Head to the tear Elizabeth! I'll meet up with you!" I shouted. I saw her run towards the First Lady Airship.
The Handyman was still trapped, before I could finish him off, the sound if a Gatling gun caught my attention. Looking out I the top of the stairs, I right my Return to Sender up and caught the bullets as I charged at the Patriot. Throwing the ball of sharpener at his feet, the explosion took out his legs and made him tip over, I unloaded my hand cannon into his back gears.
"Burn False She-" I shut him up with a Old Man Winter and my skyhook. Damn it's good to have the old girl back.
I turned around at the sound if splintering wood, I was knocked a good few feet away by a slab of wood floor. Thankfully my shield absorbed the impact. Okay I'm low on ammo and I need to go !
Jumping up to the skylines, I ride them until he jumped up and shocked them, I fell right in front if the door to the Airship dock.
Before I made a run for it, I saw Daisy's corpse on the floor. She didn't deserve this, turning her over, I folded her arms across her chest and close her eyes, "Rest in peace, and be forever at ease." I muttered. I quickly went I to the other room and spat on Fink's dead body.
I ran through the doors and saw the airship was gone. Oh well, the tears still there. Running down the hall to the tear, I was almost there when a large block of metal destroyed the path!
"Fuck!" The tear was out of reach, I couldn't jump it if I tried. Suddenly, the handy man jumped over the open tear and landed right I front of me. I saw Elizabeth's terrified face in the other side.
He swung and I dove under his arm as he logged it in the wall. With the amount of strength he had he could probably knock me...through...a...wall...
God damn this is gonna hurt like hell.
I positioned myself in front if the tear, "Hey fuckface! Your mom is so fat that when she lies down, she actually looks taller!"
He scowled at me and reared his arm back. If this works, I'm gonna start wearing body armor.
His fist connected squarely with my chest and knocked me off the ground and into the air.
Elizabeth is gonna kill me for this.
I flew through the air and into the tear in reality and into Rapture.
I did not land gracefully.
I tumbled across the room until my body indebted the kitchen counter. Owwwwwwww...that was one if the most painful things I've ever done in my life.
"Close the dam thing!" I shouted . Patrick sprung into action and pulled the leaver back as the Handyman tired to jump through. I smiled at the fact that right now, he's only going one place. Down.
Elizabeth fused over to me so fast I didn't fully rested her arms around me until a minute later. "Thank you god! Oh thank you...I love you... I love you." she repeated.
"You too. Sweetheart." I said, wrapping my arm around her. Elizabeth planted a kiss on my lips and didn't pull away until the lights shut off.
The fuck?
"Do you all know what to call someone who sneaks into another man's house?"
The screen on the other side if the tear machine. Andrew Ryan, the king of Rapture was talking to us.
"Thieves."
Oh shit...
AN: Yep, surprise everyone!
I made this chapter a fair well to all the Heavy Hitters from Bioshock Infinite. I think you can all guess what happens next chapter.
I will only reveal this to you all who read this.
Someone will die.
Goodbye :)