The next morning, Axel and Damien were laying around their cell when the warden approached the bars.
"Pyros! On your feet! You're coming with me."
Damien stared back at the warden for a moment, but complied reluctantly.
"Why? Where are you taking me? What did I do?"
"Oh you'll see," The warden sneered, "If you'll just follow me."
The warden escorted Damien to the Solitary Confinement wing of the prison, and shoved him into a small, dank room with no windows and a thick steel door.
"Solitary? I didn't even do anything! I've been in my cell the whole time!"
The warden looked back with an evil grin.
"You have your friend Cyrus to thank for this," he said as he slammed the door in Damien's face.
Damien was left there in that dark, dank room. The only light was the light that shone in through the little slit where the meal trays are slid. Minutes felt like hours, and he soon lost track of the time he spent in there. An endless number of thoughts ran through his mind.
What did Cyrus do? Not that it was probably enough to get me stuck here. They're probably punishing me for something he did. Like standing up to his old man. Still, this causes problems. While the solitude is good for thinking, I don't know how I'm getting out of THIS. But I am getting out of here. I have to. For Sebastian, for Cyrus, for Axel, for-
"Vi."
Yeah. There's no way I'm ending it with her after just one date. I mean, if she wants to, fine. Disheartening, but fine. But I'm not going to end things with her just because I wrongfully ended up in some supermax. In fact, that'll be the first thing that I do once I get back to Vale!" declared the teenager, coming to yet another revelation. "Wow! Something to look forward to that isn't busting heads? What's with me? It feels… almost refreshing. Well if I can keep this positive attitude up a bit longer, I'm sure I'll be out of here in no time at all!"
Little did he know, someone heard the one word he said aloud, and it was the one person in the world who could bring him down.
"Finally got what you deserved, didn't you Damien? Lucky that these walls are so thin. Made it easier to know it was you in here." A voice from the other side of the wall echoed.
Damien instantly recognized the familiar voice.
"Noir?!" He replied, crawling over to the door to hear better. "How did you end up in this sorry place? Not like you didn't ask for this with your job and all."
"Honestly kid, I could ask you the same thing. Though to answer your question, it was that shitty Almus guy. I knew he was the only person shifty enough to help complete the prototype, but to think he would cross us like that."
"Us?" Damien asked, before remembering. "Riiiight."
"Me and Sierra. We had the one thing he wanted–the location of his son, Cyrus–and he was going to help us. But when he got to us, he had a group of soldiers with him, and immediately took to arresting us. Sierra got away, but me? I wasn't so lucky. That scumbag said something along the lines of "why would I ever help weaklings like you?"
"Hold on a second." Damien realized how him and his team got into this situation. "You sold Almus your exosuit design, didn't you?! I knew there was more to that. And then when you and the White Fang weren't enough, you called in Almus to deal with us for you. Meaning it was you two that put us in this crappy spot! Thanks to you guys, we're stuck here like sitting ducks and being treated like trash at the same time! If I could, I would beat you until my knuckles bleed, Noir!" Damien was raged at the mobster.
"Hey, hey calm down there a second, kid." Noir quickly got around to defusing the situation. He knew it would be trouble for both of them if this heated discussion got out of hand. "If it's any consolation, I'd like to apologize."
"Apologize?" Damien yelled loud enough so Noir would get the message before he put two and two together. He chuckled. "Y'know, I was so focused on trying to put the pieces together, it just now dawned on me that you got screwed over, didn't you?"
"Smart, kid. You're right. I had no idea who it was I was dealing with. That, and the fact that Almus never gave any reason as to why he wanted to see his son or what he was going to do when he did see him. Me and Sierra simply saw a means to an end and went for it. Clearly it blew up in our (and your) faces." The room fell silent as Damien awaited more from Noir. Noir spoke up again a few seconds later. "Which is why I have a plan. It involves taking advantage of the storm that's going to happen tonight. Me and my guys are going to cause as much commotion as possible. Through that, some of us can manage to drop a few guards against the cells, grab their keys, release other folks who are stuck, and we get out."
"That actually sounds like a decent plan. Unfortunately, it isn't foolproof. For one, none of us can use our semblances. Two, Almus might already have something in the works to stop it. He has an exosuit. Possibly a better one than the version you had, so overwhelming manpower might not be enough."
"You might be right," Noir said, dampened by the information. "Still, it's our only shot. We gotta take it."
Damien thought for a moment, weighing his options. "Dammit. I know I'm gonna regret this, but I have to partner up with Jackson to get out of this."
"If this is gonna work, we're going to need to fill in the rest of my team. The more people we can get to help us, the better the chance that we get out of here."
Noir chuckled.
"Ok let me just get on with that. Oh wait. I'm kinda locked in a concrete cell!"
"Well, you're a criminal mastermind second to Roman Torchwick, and I'm a street tough who's outsmarted every other crook in Vale. Between the two of us, I think we can figure something out."
"Wait, you're trusting me?"
"Do you see any alternative?"
Noir shrugged.
"Not really."
"Don't get me wrong. Betray me or my team, and you're barbecue. And, despite your speed, you've never been able to outrun my flames."
Noir swallowed hard.
"Noted."
"Alright. Let's put our heads together and figure a way out of this." Damien said.
Meanwhile, Axel and Sebastian sat in their cells, trying to think of a way out of this mess.
"Hey, Sebastian!" Axel called out.
"What?" Sebastian replied.
"Where do you think they took Damien?"
"I don't know."
"What do you think Cyrus did to make them take him away?" Axel asked, becoming more flustered by the second.
"I don't know."
"How are we supposed to get out of here with all of us separated like this?"
"AXEL." Sebastian shouted, growing more frustrated. "I. DON'T. KNOW. We are stuck whether we like it or not. We have no help. Nothing."
"Sorry. I was just seeing if we had anything to work with," Axel replied, taking a few deep breaths.
"We don't."
Axel remained hopeful.
"I'm sure Cyrus is going to find a way to get us out of here. We just have to hang in there until we get a chance."
"How can you be so sure?"
"He's our leader. He'll figure something out. I know it."
"I don't know anymore, Axel. I just don't." Sebastian slumped against the wall, his bruised body and aching all over.
"Alright, so you got it?" Damien asked through the slit in his door.
"Yeah, yeah." Noir replied reluctantly. "After the next meal, we start yelling and screaming at each other until they send one or both of us away to separate us, then we make our way to the courtyard to start some trouble with the other inmates."
Damien nodded. "And then?"
"If they only take one of us, the other has to come back and let the other one out. Then, we all make our way out of this shithole."
Damien paused for a moment, weighing their odds. He didn't like them, but it was the only chance they had. However, for some strange reason, Damien had faith in Noir. They both had a lot riding on this, and stood to lose a lot if they failed. Maybe that was the reason he was certain his old enemy would actually pull this off. The teenager's faith only went so far with the mobster, and he meant it when he threatened him. Semblance or no, he would burn him alive if he tried anything. Damien would just have to wait and see how things played out.
Eventually, the time had come.
"Enjoy your meal, kid?"
Damien did his best to keep himself from retching into the bucket. "That was disgusting, even for my tastes." He approached the wall to Noir's cell. "But I'm set and ready to go."
"Alright, Damien," Jackson said, cracking his neck. "Showtime."
Sebastian sat in the corner of his dark and dreary cell, wasting away. His head lowered, his dark hair hanging over his eyes. Everything hurts. Is this my punishment? Maybe I do deserve this. Maybe this is how I 'fix' myself.
Somewhere within his prison, a voice called out to him.
Look at the cat stuck in its cage. It's as I said. All alone.
Sebastian swung his head to the corner of where the voice came from and saw a familiar figure. It was the young him, the one from the nightmare. He stood in the corner, arms crossed, and looking quite displeased.
"You…" Sebastian's eyes lit up, however briefly, to show that he still held resentment towards this fake. "How are you here?"
That's not important. The fake walked over to Sebastian and leaned over him. I thought I'd be nice for once and give you a little bit of advice.
Sebastian looked up at the fake with disgust. "I don't need any of your advice. I'm fine without it."
And how is that turning out for you, hm? The fake shrugged with a crass smile. But really, is the mighty slayer of his enemies just going to throw in the towel because the big man hauled him off to jail?
Sebastian didn't respond. He knew that talking back would only make things worse.
Aw, what's the matter, cat got your tongue? Got called a monster a few too many times? Too much blood on your hands? You're a coward, the fake spat. If it were up to me, I would never have been in this position.
"I am not you. I will never be you again," Sebastian replied.
Clearly that has been working. The fake backed off and shoved themselves into the corner where they appeared. The fake sighed and slumped down, meeting Sebastian's posture. Look, the false Sebastian spoke, his tone surprisingly not as venomous. You spoke of not having a real reason to fight, not having the strength to do it. But let me tell you, fighting is all we've got. It's all we've ever had. No choice but to do it. However, we had a reason to fight. That reason was to preserve our very existence. To live. If anything, that's reason enough.
"If fighting is only meant to preserve my own existence, then what's the point!" Sebastian pounded his fist against the wall in anger. "I don't want that. I can't go back to senseless fighting."
But this isn't about you this time, right? This is about Cyrus. Prove to his father that you aren't trash, that your existence means something. You help Cyrus and take care of his father at the same time. It's not so senseless now, is it?
"I hate to agree with you, but you have a point. I have them this time around. It's not just for me."
Oh and try to smile a little, yeah? Would make 'her' job wayyy easier. I'll see you around…
"Alright, no more down in the dumps. They were right, we're all getting out of here, together. If I want to keep my promise to Ozpin, then I can't stay here and just rot away."
Sebastian rose to his feet and brushed his hair back out of his face. He walked over to the door to let Axel know he was feeling better, but was interrupted by a few guards who banged on both of their cells.
"Royal! Skobeloff! Time to eat!" The warden's voice echoed through the cell block as the doors were opened and the prisoners were given their food, one by one. Sebastian could hear Axel across the hall, shoveling his food into this mouth, and burping loudly.
"You know," Axel yelled over to Sebastian, "If you close your eyes and plug your nose, this slop ain't that bad!" He continued devouring the small portion of goop that was given to him on a tray until there wasn't even the slightest morsel left. He looked over at Sebastian's cell, realizing he hadn't responded to his joke. In fact, he hadn't heard from him in a few hours. "You doing ok over there, Sebastian? I mean, I make a lot of jokes, but the food really isn't that bad."
"Yeah" he began, his voice being more upbringing than full of dread. "I'm doing a bit better. I just had a little talk with myself, that's all. Said I should try and smile more."
"Smile?" Axel yelled back to him, confused. "As long as you're doing better, then that's all I needed to hear."
"Indeed I am. We're going to get out of here, help Cyrus take care of his father, and get back to Beacon." Sebastian looked down at his food and crammed it down as quickly as he could. He was disgusted by the taste and managed to hold back from upchucking it. "Unless the food kills us first." He laughed loud enough so Axel could hear.
Axel smiled a little, knowing his friend had finally found some semblance of peace. Suddenly, a group of guards looked at each other as their radios blared in their ears. Something was going on, and Axel figured they would find out what it was soon enough.
"Y'know something, you little smart ass, if it hadn't been for you, I'd have been sitting on more money than I'd know what to do with, drinking umbrella drinks on a beach who knows where!" Noir screamed.
"Well, sorry that I have a conscience, asshole! Couldn't let you just go around doing whatever you want to everyone else. Maybe if you had lived an honest life, like everyone else in Vale, you'd be able to have that drink on a paradise island by the time you're 50. But we both know that will never happen now!"
"So well informed about such manners for an orphan."
Waiting for that one.
Damien smirked. "Oh, get bent! In fact, no! You had parents and you still turned out worse than me. You've got no excuses!"
"Oh, this is rich. The teenage brat who goes around beating up people in the dead of night, answering to just as much authority as I do, is giving me a lecture on how to live an honest life. I should've whacked you the second I had the chance."
"And when was that, exactly?" Damien asked.
"Well, lemme tear this wall down real fast, and I'll get right to it!"
"Wait a second, he's not actually going to-" Damien said before hearing the sound of a slamming wall. "No freaking way! He is?!" Damien did his best to contain his laughter. "Welp, the name of the game is to escalate, and the two of us can play it. And WELL!" Damien began slamming his fists at the walls, hoping the two would make enough noise for someone to notice.
Realistically speaking, they'd break their hands before breaking the walls down, but Damien would bet that this would cause enough of a commotion to get someone's attention.
Damien's gamble paid off.
"HEY!" a guard walked over. "KNOCK IT THE HELL OFF!"
"Ohh, buddy. You should have thought of who I'm talking to before putting me in here!" Damien said.
"That, we can agree on."
"SHOVE IT, JACKSON!" Damien roared.
"Ahh screw it. You both can sort it out in a cell together."
Jackson grinned from beyond the wall.
Good! He bought it! And he's grabbing both of us too. Someone up there is looking out for us! Damien shared his adversary's grin as he heard the sound of the adjacent cell opening. He waited a few seconds before Damien's cell opened up too, he could see Jackson slightly behind him, nodding.
As Damien cautiously approached under the guise of complying with the guard, he scoffed at the gangster. "You'd better make peace with this, asshat, or someone's getting clonked out!"
He rushed the guard, surprising them and hitting them with a throat chop. This left the guard open as they gasped for air. Noir followed up by grabbing the back of their head and slamming down onto his knee, sending them crashing to the back of Damien's cell. Noir grabbed the key off of the guard and took off their earpiece, throwing it to the ground and breaking it with his foot.
"And it looks like the one getting KO'ed is you!" Jackson pointed at the guard, chuckling. "There's a sucker born every minute!"
"Focus, Noir." Damien exclaimed, dragging the unconscious guard into his old cell. "We're out of our cells. Now what?"
"Now we find our personal effects. If we don't have our semblances, we'll shoot our way out."
Damien crossed his arms. "You're really making this up as you go, aren't you?"
Noir shrugged. Damien rolled his eyes. "Well, if we are going to get our stuff back, we're going to have to find the rest of my team. I'm sure Cyrus will know where they're keeping it. The only problem is that he's not in the cells with us!"
"Probably with his old man." Jackson replied, walking toward the exit, preparing the keys.
"Shit." Damien groaned. "I do not want to risk an encounter with him unarmed."
"'That's where my crew comes in."
"Your cr- right. Any idea where they are?"
Noir successfully unlocked the door to the Solitary Confinement wing and grinned. "I have a few ideas."
The two opened the door to the cell block where Sebastian and Axel were being held and began releasing Noir's goons. Once enough of them were gathered up, Noir filled them in on the plan.
"Listen here, meatheads. We got one shot at busting out of this shithole, and we're gonna need a distraction to do it. You guys up for some property damage?"
The group cheered and scattered about the area, smashing electronics, breaking windows, punching guards, and releasing other inmates to start fights with them. It didn't take long before the entire area was overrun with inmates causing chaos.
"WE'VE GOT A 10-14 IN CELL BLOCK D," one of the guards yelled into his earpiece. "WE NEED BACKUP, NOW!"
Meanwhile, Cyrus sat alone in his father's office, trying to figure out a way to escape his own little prison. He glanced at the guards at the door, willing them to just give up and go home. It was futile, but it was all he could do.
If I could just find a way to separate the two, Cyrus thought to himself. I might be able to overpower them if I could take them one at a time.
Suddenly, their earpieces shrieked with the sounds of chaos, and one of the guards left to go assist with the rioting. Cyrus chuckled to himself.
That'll do.
With only one guard left standing outside the window to the office, Cyrus tried the doorknob. Shit. it's locked from the outside. He grunted in frustration and began scanning the room for a way to bypass the lock. His gaze finally settled on his father's office chair. He picked it up, and slowly crept up behind where the guard was standing. He reached back and swung the chair with all his might, shattering the window, and effectively conking out the guard in the process. Door: Bypassed. Cyrus laughed to himself as he took the keys from the guard and took off running toward his friends' cell block.
Axel and Sebastian stood at their respective cell doors, craning to see what was causing the commotion unfolding all around them. Suddenly, Cyrus's head popped out from the horde of rioting inmates fighting with the guards, his eyes darting between the cells trying to find his friends.
"Yo, Cyrus!" Axel called out, waving at his friend to get his attention. "Over here!" Cyrus saw this and ducked to dodge someflying debris as he made his way over to Axel's cell. "Man, am I glad to see you!'
"Axel! Just the man I was looking for." Cyrus said, unlocking the door and letting him out.
"Oh? I'm flattered," Axel replied, "but I'm curious. What the hell is going on?"
"Honestly? I have no idea. But it's a good opportunity for us to get out of here. Follow me, I need your help."
"You've got it. Where are we going?"
"Interrogation room."
"Cool." Axel froze. "Wait, what?"
"Just come on." Cyrus ordered, giving Axel a hard shove. "I've got a plan."
"Hey, not to barge in or anything guys," Sebastian spoke up from his cell. "But uh, aren't you forgetting me? I feel a little left out here."
"Oh yeah." Cyrus said, walking over to Sebastian's cell and letting him out. "Go find Damien. Axel and I have to go get our semblances back."
"Roger that, team leader." Sebastian said with an overdramatic salute. "Just one question: How exactly do you plan to do that?"
"No time to explain, just know that if you hear a big explosion, you'll probably get your semblance back."
"Fair enough," Sebastian said as he ran off in a different direction to find Damien.
Cyrus turned back to Axel.
"Alright. Let's go."
Axel nodded in agreement, and the two ran through a mass of bodies as they exited the cell block.
"So, why are we going to the interrogation room again?" Axel shouted over the sounds of alarms and breaking glass everywhere as the two boys sprinted down the halls.
"Well, basically," Cyrus responded, ducking a few elbows and sliding through an inmate's legs, "I'm going to tase you. A lot."
"Dude, if this is some nasty revenge plan for me making fun of your Pyrrha Nikos lewds, I'll apologize. Torture really isn't necessary."
"First off, IT'S FAN ART. Secondly, It shouldn't hurt you, as long as I don't give you too much."
"Yeah, so? You want to charge me like some kind of living battery or something?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"WHY?!"
The two boys screeched to a halt outside the door to the interrogation room. Cyrus opened it and gestured for Axel to go inside.
"Just get in the chair. I'll explain when we're done."
"But-"
"GET IN THE GODDAMN CHAIR."
Sebastian found himself among a mess of a hall, filled to the brim with guards and inmates alike, fighting each other over control of the whole situation.
"Jeez," Sebastian said, seeing the crowd in front of him. "How the hell am I supposed to find Damien in a place like this? I mean he should be easy to spot since I know what he looks like, but still." He gave himself a moment to think before coming to an answer.
"That's it! I could use my sense of smell! Wait, maybe not, what with all the people around. Back to square one then."
"Sebastian!" Damien's voice echoed down the hall from behind him. "Great to see you out and about. Where are the others?"
Sebastian turned to see his teammate approaching him.
"Damien! Glad to see you! I would've taken a lot longer finding you, so good thing you got to me," Sebastian said. "The others are over by the interrogation room. Cyrus said he needed Axel for something over there. Nevermind that, though. What the hell is all this?"
"Let's just say that I cashed in a favor that I might regret in the next twenty minutes."
"What do you mean by that, exactly?" Sebastian inquired before a guard came flying right next to him.
"Okay, kid, we found the armory, but we still haven't any idea where they're keeping our stuff!" a familiar voice rang out as Noir came into Sebastian's line of sight.
"You gave a favor to HIM?!" Sebastian asked.
"Like I said, twenty minutes, thirty tops. And no, Sierra's not with him. But seeing as we're out of our cells, I really can't complain for now."
"No argument here." Sebastian added. "So, you've stormed the armory?"
"We've got guns, just not OUR guns." Noir replied.
"That's what we're trying to change before the next encounter with Almus. If we can't fry him with our semblances, then we blast him into oblivion with all the firepower we can gather."
"Actually, I think whatever it is Axel and Cyrus are planning might fix that." Sebastian grinned.
Back in the interrogation room, Cyrus strapped Axel into the chair and started looking around the room for a way to turn it on.
"Last time I saw my dad use this thing, it was… this one." He said as he flipped a switch, and electrical current started to flow from the generator directly into Axel's veins. With this, Axel started to giggle. Cyrus tilted his head in confusion and stared at Axel blankly.
"What?" Axel said with a shrug, "It tickles."
Cyrus sighed and rolled his eyes before turning to check the dials on the generator.
"So, how much of this can you take in exactly?" He asked. Axel's giggle stopped for a moment, until he burst out laughing.
"Sorry, man. You just sound like the guy who was interrogating us earlier. Legitimately the exact same question. Although I didn't exactly tell him the truth…"
"Axel, focus. I don't want to accidentally fry you. You need to tell me what your limit is."
"I don't know an exact number, man. There is no exact wattage that I can take in. I'll just tell you when I feel... uh... full." his voice trailed off and his eyes went wide.
"Ok then. You do that."
"I just did."
"Huh?"
"TURN IT OFF!" Axel yelled, straining from all the energy he was absorbing.
"Oh shit!" Cyrus yelled as he slammed the OFF button. The zapping stopped, and Axel slumped forward in the chair, panting, clearly at his limit. Cyrus undid the bonds around Axel's wrists, and Axel slowly got to his feet. He started ambling over toward the door, moving slowly, like a wounded animal. Cyrus reached out to give him a shove, but got a shock when his hand got close.
"Yeah, you probably shouldn't do that." Axel said, his voice distorted by the power coursing through his veins. "I know I'm not exactly moving quickly, but I'm kind of a nuke right now. One misstep, and the entire facility gets vaporized."
"Noted." Cyrus said as he opened the door and let Axel out into the hallway.
"So, would you mind telling me why we're turning me into a walking time bomb?"
"You know that suit that Dad wore when he kicked the crap out of us?'
"How could I forget? I wanted to tase his ass so bad, but I couldn't."
"Exactly. Well, this prison is basically a giant version of that suit. That's why we can't use our semblances here. However, a device that powerful is going to need to be powered by something big."
"Ok, so what does that mean?"
"It means that somewhere in this facility, there is a massive battery connected to the dampening device, and you are going to have to overload it to shut it down."
Axel gave Cyrus an impressed nod.
"Not bad, O Fearless Leader."
Cyrus shook his head and turned down the hallway.
"The machine should be this way. It's not far."
"What do you mean, you can't find our stuff?!" Noir yelled at one of his goons. "Well keep looking! How do you expect to get out of this hell hole if we don't have our stuff?!"
"On it, Boss!" the closest one shouted. "Come on, boys!"
Noir turned back to Sebastian and Damien, who were tearing through lockers and cases in the armory, desperately trying to find their personal effects, to no avail.
"I'm starting to think that one of the guards is using our stuff because it's cooler than theirs." Damien said, frustrated, "Because I honestly don't think that I can work with the crap they've got lying around here."
"If that's the case, why would anyone take Siberia?" Sebastian asked. "No one would have any use for a steel ball unless they could telekinetically bring it back themselves with ease! Otherwise, It's about as useful as throwing a really shiny rock at somebody."
"I don't know, man. I'm just trying to make sense as to why our stuff isn't here. I've found like four different basic weapons that probably belong to the other inmates, but no specialized ones like ours whatsoever."
"Hey kid," Noir interrupted, "Maybe we could check up there." He pointed to a staircase leading to a door with a sign that read: WARDEN'S OFFICE. Sebastian and Damien looked at each other and facepalmed.
"Of course! The Warden's office. How did I not think of that?" Damien exclaimed, disappointed in himself. "I've broken out of plenty of prisons. You'd think I would at least check the warden's office. They're usually chill, but those are the ones in Vale.. I bet this guy's a corrupt dirtbag who's probably thinking about selling our stuff to the highest bidder."
"Why sell a steel ball? I mean come on! It's tailored for my semblance." Sebastian pointed to himself. "There is no value in a steel ball!"
Damien just shrugged.
"I don't know. What's it made out of? Like specifically."
"Wish I could tell ya, man. My parents never told me. Let's just get in there and check it out."
The two bounded up the stairs and tried the door, only to find that it was electronically locked.
"Damn it!" Sebastian yelled out. "After all this trouble, the door's friggin' locked!"
"Maybe Noir can find a way to pick it?" Damien turned and shouted over the crowd surrounding Noir.
"Hey! Jackson! We need your criminal expertise for a minute!"
Noir ran up the stairs and examined the lock.
"Locked door huh? Let's see… well I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that this is probably where the Warden is keeping all of the most valuable items he collects from the prisoners. So, our stuff is probably in there."
"Great!" Sebastian said, smiling triumphantly.
"Not so fast, kid," Noir replied, "The bad news is that because of that, the guy locked this door with one of the most effective and expensive locks that money can buy. You can't just pick it, because it's electronic. And, if you get the password wrong, it resets itself, so the only way to get it open is to either a) kidnap the warden and grill him for the passcode, or b) find some way to fry the mechanism."
Sebastian's smile faded. "Great."
"Well, where do you think the warden is?" Damien asked,
"Probably not even in the facility," Noir scoffed, "That guy acts tough, but he's a wimp. He probably bailed as soon as the alarm went off."
"So then there's only one option left." Sebastian smiled.
"I don't like where this is going," Damien said, knowing Sebastian was about to do something very dumb.
"That being," he lifted his left leg up and got in a kicking position. "To kick the ever-loving shit out of this door until it falls down!" Sebastian began repeatedly kicking the lock on the door as Damien and Noir stood there with their mouths open. After a few strong kicks, Sebastian stopped and examined the lock. Nothing had worked.
"Well," he said, displeased, "I'm out of ideas."
"Did you honestly think that would work in the first place?" Damien and Noir shouted at him at the same time.
"No, but it was worth a shot. I guess we wait for the others to do their part, then."
Axel and Cyrus ran through halls of flaming debris and flying bodies for what felt like an eternity, searching tirelessly for the Generator Room. They turned a corner, and then another, then another, until finally reaching the door to the Main Power Generator. Axel stopped outside the door, breathing heavily.
"Not far, huh?" Axel panted.
"My dad's schematics were complicated, ok?" Cyrus replied defensively, "and this place is bigger than it looked in the diagrams."
"Not to mention you're just bad with directions."
"Hey! That's not true."
"We hit three dead ends, on the other three sides of the damn facility!"
"I got us here, didn't I?"
Axel groaned.
"Yes, I guess you did. But, in case you have forgotten, I'm kind of a walking nuclear warhead right now, and I'd like to get rid of this energy before I vaporize this entire place, with us inside."
"Yeah, that would be bad."
"So, I suggest we get in there so I can get rid of this shit."
"Is it really that painful?"
"It's kind of like having to go to the bathroom really bad, but like, deadly. So yeah. It's not fun."
"Got it. Let's get in there then."
"Yes, let's."
The two burst in the door to find a group of six guards gathered around a massive device connected to hundreds of large cables, sprawling all over the facility. The guards looked up, grabbed their weapons, and started shooting. Axel and Cyrus dove for cover behind a group of electrical panels.
"Really wish we had our weapons right now!" Cyrus shouted over the barrage of rounds deflecting off the panels behind them.
"Yeah, and I wish I didn't have to pee so bad, but I guess neither of us are gonna get what we want!" Axel shouted back.
"I thought you said that figuratively!"
"I was! But now it's making me have to go for real!"
"Ugh." Cyrus grunted as he broke from cover and grabbed a pipe from the wall and tossed it to Axel. "Is this close enough to a staff for you?"
"More like a bat, but it'll do."
"Good. Now go deal with them, Battery Boy."
"You're not gonna help?"
"You're the melee expert. I'm more of a 'point shotgun and pull the trigger' kinda guy"
"Fair enough," Axel replied, nodding in agreement. He broke from cover and leapt down in the middle of the group of guards. They all pointed their rifles at him and he put his hands up, the pipe still in his hand.
"You guys really don't want to do that."
"And why is that?" one of the guards asked.
"Because if you haven't noticed, I've enough stored energy to light up the entire City of Atlas," Axel retorted, motioning to his body, which continued to spark rapidly. "So, unless you all want to be turned into a nuclear shadow, I would recommend leaving."
The guards paused and weighed the validity of the statement. One of them shook his head defiantly.
"He's bluffing!" the guard shouted. "It's some kind of trick!"
"Yeah!" yelled another. "Blast him!"
"Alright, fine," Axel sighed. "But you asked for this." The guards fired, but Axel jumped above their aim, overtop of one of the guards. He kicked him in the head as he went, knocking him over. Then, he grabbed the guard and used him as a human shield until shoving him into another two guards. Axel turned to face the remaining three guards and waved the pipe at them, taunting them. One of them yelled in frustration and started firing wildly. Axel sidestepped the hail of bullets and closed the gap quickly, slamming the pipe into the guard's midsection before spinning around and smacking him in the back of the head, promptly knocking him unconscious. The remaining two guards charged Axel in an attempt to subdue him. However, he ducked under the first guard's grasp and swept his legs out from underneath him before turning to the final guard and driving the pipe up between his legs with all his might. The guard froze, groaning in pain as he fell to the floor.
Axel dropped the pipe and motioned for Cyrus to break from cover.
"It's clear, you big baby!"
"I am NOT a baby, I just figured that you were more… in your element."
"Ha ha. Very funny. Can we fry this shit now?"
"By all means. After you."
"Thank the gods." Axel sighed as he walked over to the giant battery that was connected to all the cables. "This looks important."
"Well, It powers everything in the facility, so it's supposed to be big."
Axel approached the main control panel and gave Cyrus an uneasy look.
"Here goes nothing."
He reached out and placed his hand on the console. Electricity began to flow into the battery, and the dials began to rise as the energy levels spiked. The lights began to get brighter and brighter, and Axel began to strain with the release of so much stored energy. More and more power flowed through the cables sprawling about the room, and the machine began to overload.
"That's it, Axel, you've almost got it, just a little more!" Cyrus exclaimed excitedly, but Axel wasn't even close to finished yet. His eyes glowed, and he screamed as he released a massive surge of electricity. The cables began to crackle with excess electrical energy, and the lights got so bright they were almost blinding. Axel's yells grew more and more pained with each release, but he couldn't lift his hands from the battery. It felt as if someone had welded his hands to it and was sucking the blood from his body, replacing it with white-hot molten metal. Cyrus's smile faded, and he shielded his eyes from the blinding light. He could only squint and listen in horror while his friend cried out in pain as the light around him got brighter and brighter and the pulses got more and more powerful. Axel let out one last bloodcurdling scream as one final pulse shot out from his entire body, causing the battery to burst into flames and send out a massive surge that fried every electronic device in the entire facility. The room went dark, and Axel's glow faded as he collapsed onto the floor, motionless.
Suddenly a burst of electricity emerged from the lock of the warden's office door, and all the lights went out.
"Well, that's just great." Sebastian groaned.
"Relax. I've still got this," Damien said with a smile as he rummaged around his pockets and pulled out his trusty lighter. He ignited it, illuminating the room.
The boys turned back to the door and examined it. The lock had disengaged and the door cracked open.
"I guess whatever those two did worked." Damien said as he stepped inside the office.
"They were going to disable the semblance dampener so we should have our semblances back by now." Sebastian gave it a try by lifting himself slightly. "Seems they did the job." Sebastian went in after Damien.
"Things are going smoothly." Noir went in after them. "That's a stroke of good news for us."
"Remember, Noir," Damien said, walking through the room with his lighter on examining around. "Almus is still around with that suit of his. As long as he has that, if we are near him, our semblances can't be used."
"True." Noir responded and kicked a shelf in the office, clearly upset. "However, the storm tonight gives me a good idea. If your lightning friend can utilize the storm and fry the suit we should be good to go."
"So after we grab all the stuff and meet the others, we get outside. We should go to the main courtyard right outside the entrance." Sebastian tapped Damien on the shoulder. "Care to make the light a bit bigger? Kind of hard to see with just that little flame."
"Right." Damien made the flame larger, just enough so that most of the room was unveiled with light.
The trio scanned around for a while until noticing a crate marked 'inmate weapons'.
"Well this makes things easy." Noir just chuckled as he opened up the massive crate in the back of the room. "Guys, I found our weapons." Noir signaled them to him. Sebastian and Damien walked over and peered inside it. Finding them would take a while.
"I swear, if there is a SINGLE SCRATCH on Siberia, I'll beat the crap out of whoever touched it."
"Dude. It's RIGHT THERE!" Damien shouted as he pointed to the steel ball resting on top of the pile of weapons.
Sebastian picked up his ball and looked over every inch of it as close to his eye as he could. "As I see it, it looks perfectly fine. No butt-kicking for them."
"A little much?" Damien just looked at Sebastian with a face before noticing the all too familiar rifle in the crate. "Hellooo." Damien said cheerfully, grabbing Burning Justice and strapping it to his back as he continued rummaging around the crate for the rest of the team's weapons. Soon enough they had everything together.
"Looks like you guys are all set to go." Noir stepped outside the office.
"And where do you think you're going, Noir?" Damien sharply looked at Noir.
"Going to meet back with my crew is what. You four can handle Almus. I have my people to worry about." He walked away but stopped himself a few steps in. "Don't worry, Damien. When the time is right, we can settle things." He ran off to where his people were.
"Guess that means we find Axel and Cyrus then." Sebastian walked out the office. "Let's get a move on." The two took off to find their teammates."
Axel's eyes shot open as he woke up, gasping for air, staring at the ceiling of the generator room. He sat up slowly, and found Cyrus waiting against the wall, a few more guards strewn about then before.
"So you're finally awake?" Cyrus smiled seeing that Axel was up. "You were out for like 10 minutes." he gestured to the unconscious bodies around the room. "Had to fend off a few more guards while you were out."
Axel picked himself up and noticed that the emergency lights inside the prison had turned on.
"I take it the mission was successful? I mean as far as I know, we have our semblances back."
"Yep," Cyrus confirmed. "We got our powers back and the prison is a mess. The only thing now is to grab the other two and get out of here."
"What about your Dad?" Axel had to know what Cyrus wanted to do about him. Almus did make their lives worse for the time that they were all locked up.
"As much as I don't want to have to deal with him," Cyrus hesitated. "I know there won't be much of a choice. He's probably already waiting for us."
"You might be right." Axel straightened himself out. "But no matter what, we'll deal with it."
Cyrus hesitated for a moment, staring blankly back at his friend.
"What, no quip? No joke? No witty catchphrase?"
Axel glared back at him.
"This is serious, man."
"You? Serious? I'll believe it when I see it." Cyrus joked. Axel's face didn't even budge. Cyrus raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Ookay. Now this is awkward." He turned to the door "Come on, let's meet up with the others."
The two raced down the hall toward the cell block their friends were originally being kept. When they arrived, they found the cells empty, the doors wide open.
"Honestly, I don't know what I was expecting, checking the cells." Cyrus said, slapping his hand on his forehead. "I let them out. They weren't just going to stay put."
"Didn't you tell Sebastian to go find Damien?" Axel asked.
"Yeah," Cyrus replied, "They probably went to look for our weapons."
"So, the armory then?"
"Yeah, probably."
The two turned and took off toward the armory. When they spotted the door, they found it was open. They soon found out why, as they ran headfirst into the others as they were leaving. The two groups fell over, landing with a loud oof. Cyrus sat up and shook his head, then realized who exactly they had run into.
"Oh, hey guys." He said.
"You know, you guys should really watch where you're going," Sebastian said, getting up and brushing himself off. " It's really not too hard to look up while you're running."
"It's dark in here, ok?" Cyrus replied, doing the same.
""Whatever," Damien chimed in, "Hope you guys don't mind some probation presents!" He reached out and presented Sweet Liberation and Lightning Rod to Cyrus and Axel. Cyrus grabbed his shotgun and yanked it out of Damien's hand, hugging it close to his chest.
"Oh, how i've missed you…" he said, cradling his gun like a small child. "I'll never let anyone separate us ever again."
Axel just reached out and grabbed his staff, pressing the button to collapse it and put it on his belt.
"Alright. We're armed and powered up," Axel said, his eyes stone cold. "How do we get out of here?" the others paused, expecting a joke to follow. When one never came, they just awkwardly turned to Cyrus for some explanation.
"Don't look at me, man." Cyrus answered with a shrug, "He's a different man since absorbing and releasing enough energy to power the entire city of Vale. I think it rewired his brain or something."
"Well whatever it may be, the change is welcomed," Sebastian said with a nod, "We need everyone on board and locked in." he looked to Cyrus. "You think that we can get out through the courtyard at the main entrance?"
"Possibly. However, it is probably where my father will be expecting us to try to escape."
"Well we'll just have to go through him." Axel replied.
"Yeah," Damien chuckled, "because that'll be easy…" Damien laughed at what he assumed to be nothing more than his friend's comedic nature. But when he saw the stern look on his face, the vigilante's smile faded. "You're serious. Aren't you?"
"Deadly." Axel said, cracking his knuckles. "So. Which way to the courtyard?"
"I agree with Axel." Sebastian was also dead serious. "We need to take him down. He's done a lot of awful things, and not just to us. We help Cyrus take down his dad here and now. Even if that means fighting him, I'm all in."
Damien initially couldn't believe what he was hearing, but eventually came around to the same conclusion.
"To hell with it. If I gotta go through him to get back to Vi, then it's a fight."
"Oh yeah. I was beginning to wonder if that was going anywhere." Cyrus interjected.
"There's only one way we'll know for sure, and that means not sticking around here!"
"Alright! Enough yapping, Axel snapped. "Let's get the hell out of this shithole." The group nodded and made for the courtyard. Making their way through, they busted some of the guards that were in the way and made it to the two large doors that lead to the outside. Sebastian forced the doors open and the four walked out into the main courtyard. Night had fallen and the storm began to roll in, the sound of thunder in the distance, the rain pouring heavily onto the pavement sections. The four proceeded outside but came to a screeching halt when they saw the figure waiting for them. It was none other than Almus, already having the suit activated, the glow from the visor piercing the darkness.
"Welcome. You four certainly took your time getting here." The suit released a strong wave of air, the impact reaching towards them, the water splashing around. "This time," Almus said, his voice growing deeper and angrier. "This time I'll make sure you don't get out."