Chapter 61: Rage

Lee was gasping for her breath. She was on the floor, breathing heavily.

"How…" She gasped and coughed as she forced herself up. "…long have I been out?"

The absolute last thing she recalled was being knocked out as Grodus and his minions kidnapped Peach and Marie from their prison.

She realized she hadn't left the room since that moment. She looked towards the computer, completely silent. The monitor was black with a large crack, some wires dangling from their removed plugs. The camera was left dangling on a solitary wire.

She forced herself up. "Have… to… get… out."

She reached for the large door and pulled. They had apparently locked her in. If she wouldn't escape, she would eventually suffocate or die of hunger. She sighed and staggered towards the broken computer.

'Alright…' she thought. 'I'm bad at this…'

With that, she grabbed a loose wire and connected it into a port.

Rolf was growling the entire time, with his hands into fists, veins showing, eyes narrowed.

"Oh, what in blazes?" Bobbery looked at his own headset. "Uh, hello?"

"Heads up, guys!" Kevin said over the radio. "We just lost contact with Mario and Flurrie!"

"They must have been discovered." Nazz sighed.

"Don't worry, guys." Jonny said. "Plank says we should get ready for them. If they track our radio transmissions, we will only be found in a matter of time."

"Let them come to us." Rolf said. "It will be Rolf's chance to wreak his vengeance."

Eddy managed to find a room. He wasn't going to wait for the other Eds to show, he needed to hurry.

"Hey, you guys know what's in here?" He asked into his radio.

"According to sock-head's map, that's the chem-lab." Kevin answered.

"Like, potions and stuff? Sweet." Eddy made sure the room was empty before looking around the room.

"Be careful in there." Vivian warned.

"Whatcha talking about? This room's nice. I gotta stash some of this junk for scams back at home!" he said. He started grabbing the flasks of chemicals, then placing them into his pockets.

As he searched, he heard the door shaking.

"Eddy, you have a foot soldier onto you." Vivian warned the scam artist.

"No prob, I can handle that wimp!" Eddy said boldly.

"It is a problem if you do!" Nazz said.

"Aw, c'mon! Let me beat it up!" Eddy whined.

"He-who-is-short Ed-Boy, get a hold of yourself!" Rolf's voice added in through the receiver.

Eddy growled. "I'm not short!"

"Attack the soldier and you'll gain the attention of every enemy in the fortress. Escape, you fool!" Rolf shouted.

Eddy sighed and climbed up a shelf towards a ventilation duct. "But let me beat one of them up before I go, promise me that!"

"Rest assured, Ed-boy. We will defeat them all. The son of a Shepard will not leave until they are all lifeless. "Rolf stated darkly.

"Uh, that's good." Eddy said with a worried look.

With that, he jumped and grasped the bars on the vent shaft. He hung for a moment, then kicked the hatch open and flung himself inside.

The door finally opened, as the confused X-Naut watched the hatch close.

He quickly took out his own radio. "One of the intruders has escaped into the ventilation shaft."

"Good." A new voice added in. "Track this one until I give the word, then ambush!"

Eddy crawled through the narrow vents grumbling.

"The second I see another one is the second I let loose!" He growled under his breath.

"The immature fool." Rolf growled.

"Being a little harsh, dear boy?" Bobbery asked.

Jonny looked around. "Alright, I think we should find the core of the base."

"Hm?" Bobbery asked back.

"I learned a lot about tactics about infiltration while I was working with the Bomb-omb at Fahr. It's very cool, too. We gotta find their core. That's where they usual keep the treasure, main weapons, the general, etc."

"Then we shall go. The core awaits us!" Rolf shouted.

"Guys!" Sarah screamed into the radio. "You've got company!"

Rolf looked around. As he did, the sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway, and they were greeted by 2 elite X-Nauts. Jonny and Bobbery immediately prepared themselves for attack while Rolf growled. Jonny decided he would go first. He held his wooden plank as he ran.

"Plank says, Take this!" Jonny shouted.

He swung his wooden board right at the soldier. He growled out as a response. Not at all hurt, just ticked off. Bobbery jumped into the way next. His own fuse was lit, and Bobbery started to turn red.

"Fire in the hole!" Jonny shouted.

Fire and smoke shot all about. Bobbery stood firm. He gave a proud face as he started walking back to the group.

"I say, that was easy-" the rest of his words were cut off.

Out of the dust came two pairs of arms that punched him. Bobbery went flying into a wall.

"Child's play." One of them said. "All shall succumb to the might of the X-Naut empire."

"SHUT UP!" Rolf shouted and rushed into the battle screaming.

"Wha-" In surprise, the soldiers both held out laser guns.

Rolf continued to charge them.

They decided to fire their guns at that moment.

Rolf quickly dodged the oncoming lasers. He leapt into the air. He started to twist in mid-jump.

"What's he doing?" One of the soldiers asked.

Rolf shouted again. As he came down, he drop-kicked one of the guards. The other one reacted by cocking his gun. Rolf shouted and gave an upper cut to the second one.

They were both on the floor now. He jumped and began a kick to hit them both. But they both rolled out of the way in time. Rolf, now with his defense down, landed on the floor.

One of them tripped Rolf down to the floor. Rolf looked up and saw them both staring down at him. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted Jonny and Bobbery running to them. Rolf was suddenly filled with rage.

He kicked in the air and jumped back on his feet. As he did, Bobbery and Jonny ran to his side.

"Don't worry, buddy! We're here for you!" Jonny said.

"MOVE!" Rolf shouted. "You're in Rolf's way!"

"Calm down, old chap." Bobbery said.

Rolf felt a cold hand on his shoulder. He turned to see one of the guards with a balled fist flying at his face. Rolf quickly jumped to avoid the strike. Instead, the fist came into contact with Jonny's face.

POW!

He screamed and flew back. As he traveled in the air, he struck Bobbery. They both crashed on the floor. Rolf landed on the floor. He sliced through the air with his arm, striking one of them.

It crashed onto the floor while the other one was flying towards him. Rolf blocked himself from the attack with his arm. The soldier landed right on him. Rolf smirked, and spun the soldier off him.

He screamed and hit the floor.

The terrified guards were defenseless.

Rolf approached them silently. They watched as he took a laser gun from the floor. He held it right at the guards.

"Have mercy!" One shouted.

But Rolf's heart was filled with blind rage.

BANG-BANG!

Jonny and Bobbery heard the sound of a loud bang. As they both got up, they saw Rolf standing at two fallen guards.

"Are… they?" Jonny asked.

Rolf didn't turn around.

"Oh dear." Bobbery said.

The others at mission control sighed. They had heard it all.

"That was completely unnecessary!" Nazz shouted.

Jimmy had a face of pure shock. Sarah just watched him, with both a sad and scared face. Kevin's eyes were closed, his hand of his forehead. Nazz was looking into her monitor in disbelief.

Ms. Mowz managed to keep her normal expression, as if she weren't affected. Vivian sighed, looking down on the floor.

"Rolf, that was wrong." Kevin sighed.

"Rolf…" Jonny said. "I know they were the enemy, but why? You took their lives."

Rolf grunted. They watched him turn around. To their surprise, Rolf's face was covered in tears. He was shivering in sadness. They watched him collapse on the floor and sob.

"Rolf." Bobbery sighed and looked around the room. "We have to move. We'll be spotted if we stay here."

Rolf's head was throbbing, his eyes sore. Images flashed through his mind: Beldam, then Marilynn, next Vivian. Then he saw the sights of Punnies suffering, the X-Naut armies, then of his hometown being destroyed, and at last his sister's face.

Rolf opened his eyes again. He looked at the fallen soldiers. Slowly, Rolf got up again. Wordlessly, he proceeded down the hallway with the other two in tow.

Eddy was still crawling in the vent shaft. He suddenly saw a shadow.

"Who's there?" He shouted.

"Eddy, it's me!" Goombella's voice rang back.

"Oh, Goombella!" He shouted in relief. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you!"

They met up with each other.

"Are you okay?" Eddy asked.

"I'm hiding. Those X-Nauts got Mario and Flurrie!" she said.

"Oh jeez! I left Double D and Ed alone!"

"Do you think they were captured?" Gommbella asked.

"No, I'm fine." Double D's voice said over the radio.

"And Ed?" Eddy asked.

"I'm presently safe." Ed said.

Eddy could tell by the way his voice changed that Ed was having one of his smart moments again.

"Where are you?" Double D asked.

"I'm hiding in the vents with Goombella." he said.

"Stay there." Double D instructed. "Vivian can guide us to you via the map."

Double D and Ed met up with Eddy and Goombella.

"Okay, we have two keys total." Eddy said. "But where are the doors to these things?"

"We'll check after getting word from Rolf and his group." Double D said.

"Present, Edd-boy." Rolf's voice spoke from behind and they turned to see the second group approaching them.

Double D saw his expression, with red eyes and semi-moist face. It was clear he had been crying, but he dared not ask.

"Rolf, have you and your group found they key?" Ed asked.

"Yes, we have. Now, we must find the core and end this." Rolf declared.

Double D looked at Jonny and Bobbery, who said nothing back.

"Very well. Come, we're almost finished." Double D said.

"Double D?" Vivian asked over the radio.

"Yes?" he replied.

"I'm worried. Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine. We all will be." Double D said.

"Dad, this is different. These ain't no ordinary baddies you're after. This is the big bad force. The one that's doing all this." Eduardo Jr. sounded completely serious. "I can't accept the fact that you say you will be okay. I want the truth."

They all went silent.

"…I don't know." Double D said honestly. "To tell you the truth, I'm terrified. I've never been more scared in all my years."

"Don't worry. You're not alone, buddy." Jonny said.

"Yes, good friend. We are all here, and we can all do this." Bobbery said.

Double D smiled. "Okay, then we should hurry."

Eddy and Goombella where walking behind the others.

"Eddy." Goombella said. "I don't think I've ever got the chance to say this."

Eddy looked back with a raised eyebrow.

"I feel like I've gotten to know you pretty well over these last weeks. I've never felt that way with anyone else."

"Oh?" Eddy asked, his face turning red.

"Yeah." Hers was doing the same.

"Goombella, we're almost done." Eddy said. "And until we finally save this place, I'll always be beside ya."

She giggled.

"Oh, jeez." Kevin groaned over the radio. "Like we really needed to hear that."

"Oh, come on! can't you just mind your own business?" Eddy groaned.

"Maybe you could keep your secret talks secret if you would be smart enough to turn off your stupid radio things!" he shouted.

But Rolf said nothing as they proceeded down the hallway.

'This is it.' He thought as they approached a doorway. 'At long last, it's time to end this.'