No Time

Archer, Seline, and Mark jogged down the opposite direction Sigma, Joe, and Tokerev had gone. While Sigma went to backup the Siblings in their fight with whatever that new NeoSplicer was, it was their job to find and hopefully diffuse the explosives the Splicers had apparently planted. Seline shook her head as they moved down the side of the dim street, squeezing her revolver's wooden grip with her only remaining hand. They were spread out well enough that if they were to get shot at, they would at least not get mowed down all at once, that's what Archer had said anyway, though she had her doubts, and not just from a pessimistic mindset, she had actually been mowed down once already. Every time she would think about that night she felt nauseous, her body shook and she began to sweat, the images and sounds replaying in her mind so vividly she would forget where she was when she snapped out of them, but the worst part was the horrible attack ruined what was otherwise a perfect night with Mark. She glanced back and saw the young man with his dark hair ruffled as he aimed his Thompson to their left side, covering alleyways and windows with the muzzle. She gave a small smile as her cheeks reddened, remembering how sexy he had been that night, and on other occasions, now especially that he had gotten more serious.

Every dark window the small group passed was inspected by Archer, then Seline, then Mark, in order of their positions in the line. Archer covered the front, while Mark covered the rear, and Seline covered everything in between, so if there were any threats, they could be called out and handled accordingly. That was also something Archer had said. Seline had to give it to him, the man really knew his stuff. He moved like an experienced Soldier, or at least that's how she thought Soldiers would move, had she met any others. He was smooth and methodical, and she remembered him saying "Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast." when they left their friends at the crossroad, seeing him in action drove that point home. The way he walked, his weapon at the ready for any sign of a threat, darting back and forth to cover different areas as soon as he found them. He kind of reminded her of Omega in some ways. The way he knew exactly what his role was, and what the next move was, always searching for threats. She had gotten so used to the Protectors being with them, and keeping them safe, she had forgotten that there were men like Archer, who were also capable of doing the exact same thing, though with more difficulty. Either way, she felt far safer with him there than if it were just her and Mark, and she was glad to have his experience with them.

As she turned to her right and aimed her revolver into an alleyway that Archer had already scanned, she remembered seeing the Protectors in such a bad state just before she and Mark ran to find Sigma and the others. She had never seen all three of them beat up like that before, maybe one or two of them badly hurt, but never all three at once, and that fact alone scared her. Would Rapture keep dreaming up new Hellish creations to fill this nightmare with? Would they be able to stop it from doing so? She let out a sigh from her nostrils and rubbed the bandage covering her wounded eye with the back of her hand.

The small group approached another intersection of crosswalks, and Archer held up his fist for them to stop while he scanned the area, everyone looking around, listening, and even smelling for any sign of life. Once they were sure no one was around, Archer turned back to Seline and Mark and they knew to huddle in close to listen. Mark and Seline knelt down beside one another as Archer met them and laid his Thompson on the ground beside him.

"Alright, if we take this right it'll lead us to the entrance of the District." He said, as he reached down and began tying Seline's left boot laces back together, they had come undone some time ago and he knew they could trip her in combat if not taken care of. The gesture embarrassed and shamed her slightly, but she was also thankful for it, it wasn't easy to ask for help with such a simple task. Mark stayed silent but scrunched his eyebrows a little at the kind gesture, Seline saw that and a small smile grew on her face as she took note of Mark's obvious jealousy.

"The Splicers came from that direction, we know that for sure because they passed the fire station as they ran from the NeoSplicer. We'll loop around and search any windows or support structures we find. If you see something, anything, that looks suspicious or out of place, you call it out, got it?" He asked as he finished tying her boot.

"Got it." They both whispered in response. Archer nodded and motioned for them to follow. They could still hear the sounds of far off combat when they turned the corner of the building they hid behind, the Protectors still fighting, still holding that thing off, but they didn't know how long that would last. They needed to hurry.

In front of them, a long wall of support beams with intricate embossing and windows lined their left side, massive and grand as Rapture usually was, or had been in years passed, they stretched far down the street until they connected with a massive bulkhead door that was designed to seal off all of the City's biggest thoroughfares. They were most commonly used to seal off main routes of travel through the City's most densely populated areas, or popular Districts incase of flooding or other emergencies, and this particular underwater bridge was large enough for three Big Daddies to stand side by side, shoulder to shoulder inside of it.

The Trio crept their way down the walkway, keeping their backs to the buildings on their right as they searched each massive support beam for any sign of explosives. When they made it a little more than half way down the avenue, they heard voices echoing from the street directly adjacent to the large entrance of the District and Archer motioned for them to stop in some shadows. They sat still as they listened to the distant chatter, instantly recognizing the insane ramblings of several Splicers. From their position in the shadows, they watched four Splicers walk out of the large tunnel that connected their District with it's neighbor. Once the Splicer patrol had passed, Archer motioned for them to stay low and move forward.

As they moved, some of the rambling got louder, and they could tell that, despite there being a war between Titans just down the road, they were casual about it, some even laughing when an echoing explosion could be heard. It made all three of the Humans angry to hear that. Their friends were actively fighting and possibly dying in order to save them, and buy them time, and these Bastards thought it was funny that they had led that Monster to the Fire Station. Seline gritted her teeth hard when she heard the laughter, until a massive roar filled the air, unmistakably Omega's howling screech. She heard far more Splicers whimper or gasp at that sound, and she scoffed.

"Fucking Cowards, they don't have the guts to fight the Protectors so they have to use dirty tricks." Mark whispered, mirroring Seline's inward thoughts perfectly. Archer turned and held up a finger to his lips, nodding understandingly but reminding them they needed to be silent. They approached the corner, and Archer slowly peaked around as both Mark and Seline watched his eyes squint and his eyebrows scrunch. They also clearly saw him mouth the word "Fuck." silently. He pulled back away from the wall and looked to them as he shook his head. He held up his hands, first ten fingers, then an additional five fingers letting them know there were fifteen Enemies in total. Both Mark and Seline cursed silently as well before Archer pointed to a back alleyway and moved past them to go in. They followed him inside the dark passage and saw him looking up at the fire escape just above them, rusted and oxidized like every other piece of metal seemed to be in Rapture. He turned to Mark and pointed at him then pulled his finger upwards and Mark nodded. Archer laced his fingers together as he braced himself. Mark put his boot in Archer's hands and jumped as the Soldier gave him a boost. Mark grabbed the railing and got a foothold on the bottom of the platform before quietly pulling himself over to land on both feet, the fire escape shaking slightly from the added weight, it's bolts screaking softly against the outer wall of the building. Next up was Seline's turn, she followed Mark's lead, but instead of having to pull herself up, Mark braced himself over the railing and grabbed her one good arm as he pulled up, helping steady her as she stepped each leg over and onto the metal grating.

After both Mark and Seline braced their stomachs against the railing, they reached down and Archer jumped to grab both of their hands. It took both of their strength combined to pull the larger man up, but they pulled it off without dropping him or falling themselves. Once they were all gathered on the fire escape, Archer checked the window closest to them, but it was boarded up and dark inside, no way they would be able to get inside without making a ton of noise. They went up two more levels of creaking stairs before finding an empty apartment with an unlocked window. Archer pointed to the window before motioning for them to go to the roof first. They followed, and as they reached the rooftop and peaked their heads up, they could see a Splicer sitting on an Air conditioning unit as he looked out over the street below. They were lucky he hadn't heard the fire escape creaking, but saw him talking to himself and realized he was hearing all manner of other things in his own head, it was no wonder he hadn't heard them.

Archer looked to both of his Companions and pulled his combat knife from it's sheath, Mark doing the same. Seline looked at her pistol and decided she would back them up rather than get involved, especially if they were trying to be quiet. She followed them up onto the roof and moved slowly behind them as they crouched behind some old ventilation shafts that ran across the building's roof. She stopped at the first set of vents they came to, but watched as they crept forward, Archer taking the right side, and Mark on the left. When they got close enough to the rambling Splicer, Mark waited for the man to reach the apex of his imaginary conversation, holding his Thompson up with one hand as he gestured with the other. Mark reached up, yanking the man's sub-machinegun from his hand before Archer wrapped his hand around the Splicer's mouth and pulled him back over the air conditioning unit he sat on, plunging his knife into the man's chest as he struggled against him. Mark sat the weapon he had stolen on the vent and raised his knife, joining in on the stabbing when he saw the Splicer still struggling from the first wound Archer had inflicted on him. They each had to stab the man several times before he finally went limp and stopped struggling. Seline made her way to them as they cleaned their knives on the Splicer's dirty vest.

"These Fuckers are tough when they have Armored Shell." Mark whispered.

"Yeah I wasn't expecting that, thanks for the quick assist." Archer replied, earning a "No problem." from his younger counterpart.

"Let's see what he was watching." Seline said, nodding toward the edge of the building, and the lit street below, both men nodded in agreement before the three of them got down and crawled toward the edge of the building. What they saw horrified them.

"Holy shit!" Mark said as Seline's mouth hung open in shock.

They overlooked a large public area with a huge fountain in the middle, still running off of it's pumps as it fed water from the top to cascade down into the lower levels, each consecutive layer larger than the last. Two stone women wearing robes held pots just above the top of the fountain as water poured out of them, one of which was missing half of her head and both hands, as well as the pot that would otherwise be pouring water as well, instead the head of a metal pipe was coming out of one of her wrists and pouring it's contents into the fountain. Seating benches made of stone were arrayed around the area. Large viewing windows spanned the length of the public space that showcased a large view of the crumbling cityscape in the distance. What horrified them about the scene wasn't the makeup of it's architecture or decoration however, what horrified them were the dozen or so explosive charges and bombs that lined each support beam against the huge windows. They could see TNT charges, bundles of dynamite, bundles of pipe bombs, grenades, even massive torpedoes with timers on them. Some were simple explosives detonated by an electronic timer, others were more complex with wires and motherboards equipped on them. It was clear various Nitro Splicers had set the bombs up, and their levels of experience in explosives showed in the quality of their work.

"Let's go! Move it! We got fifteen minutes until those bombs go off, we need to seal the District before they do or we'll get sunk in here with those Monsters!" A Splicer yelled, his gritty voice echoing through the area in a thick New York accent.

"That big Bastard threw off our time but it's over there fighting the Doctor Broad's group keeping em busy!" He yelled as the Splicers gathered their things to leave. He turned to three more Splicers approaching them from the right, coming from the direction of the other District entrance.

"Is that other door sealed?" He yelled, his thick New York accent blaring at them. "Yeah, we got it, don't worry, no way they'll be opening that thing again, we torched the gears on the door, even if they wanted to open it, it'd be impossible." A Male Splicer stated.

"Nothing's impossible with those Monsters on their side. Get going, we're sealing the door and letting those Bastards drown." The lead Splicer stated loudly so everyone could hear him, the sounds of the Protectors fighting in the distance overlapping with his words. They heard him chuckle as a loud explosion echoed through the air causing several of the Splicers to jump from the sudden loud sound. They watched as the Splicers started to leave, but ducked when the Leader of their group stopped and turned to look up at the building's rooftop.

"Barney! Let's go!" He yelled up at them and they all tensed.

"Barney! You there?" He yelled, and the other Splicers stopped to see if a response would come. Mark gritted his teeth as he looked over to Archer. "We didn't know they were about to leave. What do we do?!" he whispered.

"We swing first, they're bunched up, lay it on em!" He whispered as they all rose from their prone positions, Seline drawing her revolver as Archer and Mark raised their sub-machineguns, all three humans opening fire at the same time, using the lip of the brick building as cover, their angle of attack giving them a stout advantage to the Splicers caught out in the open. As soon as the hail of fire hit the Splicer group they began to either fall or scatter, bullets ripping through those too slow to react in time to the ambush, the element of surprise claiming lives as they looked for cover. Six of the Freaks fell at once, but the Leader managed to make it to cover behind one of the many stone benches dotting the area. When the Splicers returned fire the group ducked, and spread out on the roof. Instead of reloading his Thompson, Mark picked up the sub-machinegun he had stolen from Barney just a few minutes ago, and began firing down on the Enemies hiding or trying to reposition.

"We're gonna skin you alive you fucking Rats!" The Leader of the Splicer group yelled as more bullets peppered the bench he hid behind, knocking chunks of stone and dust from the front.

"Fuck you!" Mark yelled back as he continued firing until his stolen weapon was out of ammo as well. Seline felt the same way, and showed this by peaking up, aiming quickly, and putting a bullet through the side of a Leadhead Splicer's skull, his deformed head transforming into something unrecognizable as he fell.

"Fall back! Fall back God damn it! We gotta seal em in before they can escape!" The Leader screamed over the roar of the gunfire, realizing he and his people were fighting an uphill battle, literally. All of the Splicers began running through the large tunnel, bullets barely missing some, and connecting with others as they fled.

"Aim for the Leader!" Archer yelled as all three fired at the running man. They saw a bullet hit him in the lower back but he continued to run until he made it under the tunnel to safety, shortly after, they heard the large bulkhead door grinding down, a loud boom echoing as it sealed behind them. Seline cursed as she holstered her pistol, her whole body shaking from the adrenaline as she sat down on a vent duct to breath and calm her nerves. Mark ran to her and checked her over.

"You aren't hurt are you?" He asked, snapping her out of a daze. She shook her head, heartbeat blaring in her ears and stuttered "No.." as Archer came to them from the opposite side of the rooftop.

"C'mon, we need to get down there and check out those bombs." He said in a gruff voice, not a hint of being shaken between the three of them. He and Mark gently pulled Seline to her feet, her shaking knees slowly but surely regaining strength. The Trio retraced their steps down the fire escape, and went through the abandoned apartment window they had found earlier, their weapons raised as they cleared the room, hallway, lobby, and finally the street out front. They ran to the large viewing area and stopped as they looked at the large amount of explosives lining the windows. Archer blew air from his mouth in a stress laden sigh that made his cheeks puff out, he was obviously tried to figure out where to begin.

"Can you diffuse them all?" Mark asked as they looked to the Soldier and he shook his head.

"No, but we might be able to if you two help out." He responded.

"Help out!? I've never even seen bombs like this, let alone diffused one!" Seline stated in shock.

"Mark? What about you, have you ever diffused anything like this before?" Archer asked, and to his surprise the young man nodded.

"Yeah, I can get the bundles of Dynamite, and the grenades. They're on simple electric timers and thrown together half-assed. Those things will need a more experienced touch though." He responded, pointing to two large torpedo bombs.

"Alright, four hands are better than two. Seline, you watch our backs and make sure none of those Assholes are hanging around or got left behind. The last thing we need is a stray bullet to set one of these piles off." Archer stated, and she nodded in agreement, happy to not be working on the explosives.

"What happens if you mess up?" Seline asked, a worried look on her face.

"If we mess up... We won't be the ones who have to worry about it." Archer stated with a dark chuckle as he crouched next to a bundle of grenades all wired together and set to work. Mark followed his lead and found his own bundle of Dynamite to diffuse.

. . .

Sigma rolled to one side as the NeoSplicer's heavy drill smashed by his helmet's porthole, shards of concrete flying up to clatter off of the NeoSplicer Protector's cracked and broken face plates. It roared and bloody spittle flew onto the Big Daddy's helmet porthole as he rolled back, slamming his massive fist into the side of the Creature's face, the booming impact causing it to stumble to the side. The Alpha series Big Daddy managed to stand to his full height just as the Beast threw another swing at him. Sigma bashed the incoming drill swing with his own, sending a return punch to the NeoSplicer's armored stomach as sparks flew from their deadly weapons, causing the cracks made from the Sibling's to widen considerably, then he smashed his drill down on the Creature's back and head as it doubled over from the force of the punch. Sigma revved his drill again, preparing to impale the Beast as it lay on it's stomach, but as he pulled his drill up, the NeoSplicer's own drill shot out from it's arm, barely missing Sigma's helmet as he leaned back just in the nick of time. The sharp weapon grazed his helmet and sent sparks into the air as it shot up, a trail of chipped metal carved laterally up his helm, causing the Big Daddy to take two steps back off balance.

Sigma responded by kicking the NeoSplicer in the face with his armored boot, but regretted the action when it used the force of the hit to roll and push itself up onto it's feet only to charge him again. He looked back to the Siblings and felt shame at the sight of them, not because they were in such bad states, and now all three lie unresponsive on the ground. He felt shame because he hadn't been there for them, hadn't been there to help them, to take hits for them, and it only served to make him more and more angry at the Creature that had done this.

As the NeoSplicer charged Sigma expecting to tackle him, the Big Daddy ducked low just before the Beast hit him causing his legs to hit first, flipping him over and onto his back. The Protector stood and turned, his large armored boot raising to stomp down on his Enemy's chitinous chest plates, cracking them and causing an audible shriek of pain from the Beast. He raised his boot again for another massive stomp, when the NeoSplicer grabbed his ankle and pulled causing him to fall on his back, the thunderous impact shaking the ground around them. Sigma hit the ground with a heavy grunt, the armored Creature rising, never letting go of his ankle. The Big Daddy shot fire from his free hand, but the Beast didn't react to it as it impacted and either flew off in a different direction or was ignited on it's armored shell, it simply shifted it's drill back to a clawed hand before wrapping it around his leg as well. With a massive heave the NeoSplicer swung Sigma into the air and onto his stomach with enough force to shatter the concrete street below, sparks and stars flew from the Protector as he slammed into the ground. The impact caused Sigma's vision to blur, and it felt like every bone in his enhanced body was vibrating with pain. He began to spin, being dragged on his stomach before he felt a weightless sensation, and then more pain as he crashed through one of the buildings that hadn't been touched yet by their battle. Sigma rolled through the building's internals as he crushed furniture and appliances alike with his bulky frame before finally coming to a stop against one of the building's brick walls, dust and debris falling lightly down on him upon impact.

Outside the Beast turned it's attention back to it's original Enemies. Iota, Anna, and Omega were all unconscious, laying close together, droplets of blood littering the street where the fighting had taken place, some of it pooling into small puddles where they had tried to catch their breath earlier, but the majority of it was on and beneath them. The NeoSplicer began walking toward them, it's heavy form shaking the ground with each heavy step it took. It snarled as he came up on Iota laying face down, her arm outstretched as she fell unconscious trying to drag herself back to help Sigma, a small trail of bloody drag marks behind her.

The Beast reached for her, it's clawed hand grabbing the back of her black helmet when a single gunshot rang out, a solid slug of armor piercing metal hit the side of it's armored head, causing it to jerk to the side. It turned, growling as it laid eyes on Joe, his shotgun raised, bandages covering his head, arms, and legs. He fired again and again, each shell from his shotgun simply sparking off of the Beast's armored chest and face, each rack of the slide causing his eyebrows to purse more and more in anger and concentration. The NeoSplicer raised it's hand toward him, shifting it back to it's drill form as it aimed the weapon for the man's chest. Joe gave a spiteful grin as the Beast's weapon snapped forward with a loud crack, the projectile hurling toward the wounded man.

. . .

Tenenbaum sat in the dimly lit room, the dusty yellow lights overhead flickering every time the building shook from impact, streams of decades old dust trickling down to dance in the light as she looked around, her heart pounding. She was gently stroking Lizzy's dark hair with trembling fingers as the girl clutched to her for dear life, her tiny fists clenching the older woman's dirty grey jacket in a death grip, terrified that her Brother and Sisters would be hurt or worse. She had clearly heard what Mark and Seline had said, that it didn't look good, and to her young mind, they might as well have said they were dead. "It doesn't look good." to a child invokes any number of dark thoughts, fears, and possibilities. A child's imagination is a powerful thing, and in a place like Rapture, it often worked against you. The little girl was torn, torn between being scared for her Siblings, and being confident in their strength. They had always protected her, always been there for her, even when the Hotel collapsed and Omega was close to death, he had protected her.

She remembered being trapped under rubble, metal beams and darkness all around them as fire raged above, embers raining down around them, and the look of his lifeless, ash covered face when she tried to wake him. She remembered how scared she was, and it made her shake now, but she also remembered when the NeoSplicer had showed up, it's pitch black eyes staring at her as it tried to squeeze through the rebar to get her. She remembered how she screamed, and how Omega had shot to life and killed it mercilessly to save her. She remembered how Anna had protected her before she became a Big Sister, how all of them had protected her so many times. Would they do so again? Would they continue to protect her? She remembered when her Brother had sprinted down the pitch black hallway of the maintenance tunnel, NeoSplicers latched on to him, clawing and biting at him as he wrapped her in his arms for protection, how they made it into the power control room beneath the district, and how he fought, even as badly wounded as he was, to keep the Monsters away from her, to kill them. She also remembered how, in the most terrifying moment... he had all but lost. She was able to kill the Monster with his knife, and she felt a mix of emotions about it. She had saved him. She had saved him. It was the first time she had ever saved one of her Siblings... but... it was also the first time she had seen one of them fail... the strongest of them... and if he could fail... then... maybe they all could...

Lizzy clutched onto Tenenbaum harder when another loud Boom shook the Fire Station and she heard Anna yelp. The little girl felt horrible, how could she think such things, even now when they were fighting to protect her, to protect everyone? They were outside, hurt, possibly dying, and she was doubting them, doubting if they could win.

Suddenly, the door of their shared sleeping quarters burst open, and Lizzy jumped hard from the sudden bang, her head shooting toward the door, hopeful that it was her Siblings, terrified that it was the Monster. It was Joe, and he was carrying Tokerev. She breathed a small sigh of relief as she wiped her eyes, but her small stomach sank again when she realized they were both hurt. Joe had a lot of cuts all over him, and Tokerev was bleeding very badly from his bandaged stomach, enough so that it had soaked through the gauze Joe and Archer had packed into the wound.

"Doc! Doc I need help! Tokerev's been shot!" Joe shouted as he carried the wounded man inside. Without thinking Doctor Tenenbaum shot up and ran over to take Tokerev's other free arm as he grunted, helping Joe carry him over to a clean bed to lie down.

"What happened? How is he?" She asked hurriedly.

"One gunshot wound to the stomach clean through the other side, we packed it with gauze and wrapped it up to slow the bleeding, he's also got multiple cuts from shrapnel and glass that Sigma removed with his telekinesis, he was shot two more times in the chest but his vest stopped the bullets." Joe explained as Tokerev growled in pain, clutching his stomach.

"Thank goodness for that." The Doctor said as she began disinfecting her hands and putting gloves on. "Joe keep pressure on that wound!" She said as she fetched a first-aid kit from a nearby wall, the click of her short-heeled shoes echoing through the dimly lit space over the rumbling sounds of combat outside. Tokerev growled as Joe kept pressure on the wound to slow the bleeding as Doctor Tenenbaum opened her medical bag and the first aid kit to dig around for the supplies she would need to hopefully save Tokerev's life.

Joe and Lizzy watched as she laid out various tools on the first aid kit's empty lid. She retrieved a curved suture needle, the black suture thread, hemostatic clamp, more gauze, a morphine syrette, disinfectant, and a first aid syringe to boost Tokerev's natural healing process. She pulled a small vile of ADAM from the bag when the Russian man grabbed her wrist.

"No ADAM!" He growled madly as he gritted his bloody teeth. Tenenbaum hesitated, but then nodded hurriedly and put the small vile of the glowing liquid back into the bag, eyeing it sideways, knowing she may have to disregard Tokerev's wishes if his life came down to it. The Doctor looked back to Lizzy and frowned, she didn't want to leave her alone with her thoughts at a time like this.

"Lizzy Darling, would you be so kind as to assist me in surgery?" She asked, forcing a smile onto her lips, trying to hide the tone of stress and fear in her words. The little girl looked up at her, a scared and unsure look on her face, but she nodded nonetheless as she shakily rose to her feet. She made her way over to the bedside, and looked over Tokerev's wounded stomach, her lower lip trembling from a new surge of adrenaline and fear.

"Would you please hand me the morphine syrette, Dear?" Tenenbaum asked her in a soft tone.

"It's the little red and white tube with a needle on the end." She added as she nodded toward it. Lizzy quickly picked it up and handed it to the Doctor, surprising her with her speed.

Once Tenenbaum had put her gloves on and injected Tokerev with morphine she set to work, having Joe hold an I.V. bag up high with plasma as Lizzy handed her various medical tools for her to operate on the wounded man. The Doctor worked at a speed that amazed both Lizzy and Joe, her adept hands showing years upon years of medical experience only the way a master of any craft can.

When she had finally stabilized Tokerev and stopped his bleeding, she sewed his wounds closed with tight sutures, clipping the excess thread free to reveal a clean and sealed wound. Lizzy's eyes were wide with wonder rather than fear. She didn't know how long she had been operating on Tokerev, but she was mesmerized the whole time. Tenenbaum had taken a horrible situation and made it better. Lizzy looked down at her bloody hands and then to Joe, who still had many cuts and scratches all over him.

"Did I do good?" Lizzy's small voice asked both of them, Joe smiled as best he could as he nodded, and Tenenbaum replied with "You did wonderful, Dear."

"Now let's get Joe taken care of, shall we?" She asked the girl, Lizzy started to nod but Joe put his hand up quickly, his eyes going to the door instead. "No time, Doc. Just hit me with a first-aid syringe and bandage the worst gashes. I need to get out there, they need all the help they can get." He said lowly, earning a nod in response from the Doctor as Lizzy clutched her small, blood covered hands to her chest in fear.

. . .

Archer and Mark worked studiously to pull priming charges from bundles of TNT, wrap cords of wire around hand grenade handles, and slowly peeled shock detonators from C-4 charges. Sweat was beading their faces as both men worked to save not only their lives but the lives of every one in the District. Mark Cursed as he worked, their short countdown on the Torpedo bomb timers beeping with the excitement of each minute that passed closer to their detonation.

"Fucking Splicers! Fucking Reed Wahl!" Mark growled angrily through gritted teeth, sweat from his nose dripping down to land on the web of his hand between his thumb and index finger as he slowly pulled a detonation cap out of a block of C-4. Once it was free he tossed the C-4 as far into the District as he could away from the other explosives just in case one of the other charges went off first. There were dozens of blocks already disarmed laying around the large park area far enough away that a stray blast wouldn't set them off. As the young man went back to work on another charge he wondered if what they had diffused so far would be enough, even if a stray blast set the main charges next to the viewing windows off. Would everyone else be able to survive the blast? Would the District flood anyway and kill them all? He wasn't worried about himself, he knew as well as Archer did that if any of these explosives went off and triggered the rest, it would happen so fast he wouldn't even know he was dead until he was standing in front of the pearly gates, if such a place even existed.

"Are you sure they won't explode when you throw them like that?" Seline asked as she watched the explosive C-4 clay Mark had thrown hit the ground and roll to stop against another diffused charge.

"Don't worry, they need an electric charge to set them off, you could eat the stuff and it wouldn't explode." Archer answered in a cool tone as he worked.

Seline sighed heavily with stress as she listened to the far off sounds of combat still raging in the streets. She hoped Tenenbaum, Lizzy, and Joe were okay, and she hoped with all of her might that the Siblings, and Sigma were still fighting, holding that thing off. She had never wanted anything more, and she felt useless that she was simply standing there, her back to Mark and Archer as she scanned the empty streets and windows of buildings.

"Fuck." She heard Archer exclaim in a whisper as he faced a large torpedo on wooden planks, wires running from the nose and shaft. He rubbed the sweat on his face as he glanced to the two of them, his mouth slightly agape as he thought.

"What? What is it, Archer?" Seline asked, her fear clearly showing on her face and in her voice.

"It's nothing..." He said lowly as he glanced at the timer on the bomb. "At least for another seven minutes..." He said, his eyes darting from side to side as he made calculations Seline wished she knew of. He set out on the wires, his knife poised to cut whichever ones would make the bomb harmless, but he hesitated. She heard him mutter curses again as he looked to them once more.

"What?" She asked again, this time drawing Mark's gaze to them. "What?!" She all but shouted, panic filling her face. Archer shook his head as he sighed heavily. "This is one of the City's high explosive defense torpedo's. It's designed to go off if anyone tampers with it, I don't even know how those Maniacs managed to dissarm it and move it here, you'd need a super computer in order to calculate which wires to cut, when to cut them, and when to reconnect them. It has to be Reed Wahl's work, him and that Thinker of his..." Archer answered, more thinking to himself rather than to Seline and Mark.

"Well... Can you diffuse it or not?!" Seline asked, more pleading than anything. Archer's jaw muscles clenched and he shook his head as he pointed his hand out toward the metal panel that had been pulled off of the shaft of the torpedo, exposing gears and wires. He shook his head as he said, "No, I can't, and I don't think anyone in Rapture besides Reed Wahl and his Thinker can..." He looked to her and Mark. "You see those gears turning inside? In layman's terms, this bomb goes off when those gears stop, and there's no way to diffuse this beast without stopping them, at least not unless you can calculate the speed the electrical current will travel through those wires to the charge." He said grimly.

"So... What do we do?..." Seline asked, shaking now from the new news. "Hell there's nothing we can do except run as fast as we can away from here... We have five minutes to get back to the Fire Station and warn everyone, and get out of this District before it's filled with water..." He told them, and they felt their knees go weak.

"I thought it was a simple torpedo when I saw it... I'm a damned Fool..." He muttered to himself, wondering if they would have enough time to even make it back to the Fire station, let alone out of the District. He looked at both of them and grimaced. "Run, get to the Fire station and warn the others, go!" He shouted urgently and both Mark and Seline took off as fast as they could with Archer hot on their heels. Mark didn't know what was worse, the fact that they knew yet again that they were about to die, or the fact that they were running as fast as they could in the direction of that Thing the Protectors were fighting and needed to get everyone out of there alive.

. . .

Joe racked his shotgun's slide again and again, pouring armor piercing rounds into the side of the Monster's face and chest as it's hand reached Iota's helmet. She still lay unconscious on the ground, and he had to do something. His wounds burned with every trigger pull, the recoil of his gun sending pain throughout his body, but he couldn't let them die, couldn't give up the only things keeping them alive in this Hell. When the Beast turned to face him, and pointed it's drill arm at him, he felt a moment of perfect terror, and a moment of perfect calm. He grinned darkly at the Beast, knowing he was about to meet his end. His fingers and hands went numb up to his elbows as he racked the slide of his pump action shotgun and continued to fire it, his blood beating in his ears and the loudest ringing he had ever heard shepherding his doom closer to him. He couldn't kill the Monster, but he could keep it from killing Iota, at least for a short time. The world slowed, and he saw the Beast's massive chitinous drill shoot from it's hand toward him. Determined to face his death head on, the stubborn Fool he had always been, he kept his eyes open, awaiting the pain and coldness of death. He took a deep breath, as if he could stave off the darkness for a little longer as long as he held air in his lungs. When the crack of the Monster's large muscles shot it's drill toward him, he grinned again, determined to not give the Beast the satisfaction of him screaming or begging for mercy. He watched as the drill sped closer and closer to him, and just as it reached him he saw a plume of red smoke, and a black figure appear in front of him. Omega was back in the fight.

Omega teleported in front of Joe out of thin air, and as soon as the Brother materialized he raised his arms into the air, raising the jagged piece of broken metal from his hammer hilt above his head. He slammed the tip down through the thick muscle of the Titan's drill arm and into the stone below, pinning it to the ground with a roar that made Joe fall to a sitting position, wide-eyed in surprise and shock. The Protector's visor slits burned a hellish red as he pulled his large knife from his shoulder sheath and sliced half way through the connective muscle that connected the NeoSplicer's drill to the rest of it's body. It roared in pain as the sharp blade cut through muscle and tendon almost to the floor below. It charged him, but he didn't look at it, he raised his knife again, and with one more swift swing, he severed the Beast's arm from it's shoulder and turned just in time for the Monster to reach him. It tackled him and both Titans barely missed Joe as they flew through the air, the Monster bleeding from multiple places and wounds just like Omega was.

They hit with a crash of dust and roars, like two Lions that had collided in a scrap and were desperately clawing and attacking for dominance in the heat of battle. Each heavy blow the Brother received he answered in kind, thunderous quakes shook the ground and a deafening roar filled the air as the Protector poured all of his rage into the fight against the NeoSplicer. As they grappled on the ground, Omega pointed to Joe, and then to Iota and Anna. Joe nodded, knowing the Brother wanted him to help his Siblings in whatever possible way he could, even if he couldn't. Joe got to his feet and sprinted over to the closest Sister, it was Iota. He panted as tears poured out of the corners of his eyes at the sight of her, she was laying face down, her arm outstretched, fingers still trying to claw her way toward whatever direction she was heading in. He knelt down and began bandaging her wounds as best he could, packing them even as her suit began healing itself. He turned Iota's output knob on her Harvester, releasing the last small amount of ADAM she had rationed into her body, and for a moment he could've swore he saw her move, all the while trying to ignore Omega's horrifying roars behind him. He had never heard the Brother so angry, so enraged, and even as the Brother fought to save him and everyone else, it sent a shiver of fear and panic down his spine.

Once Joe had seen to Iota, as little as his medical help had done, he sprinted to Anna, her helmetless, blood covered face looking to the ceiling, eyes closed and caked with blood... her blood. He began doing the same for Anna as he had with Iota, stuffing her deep wounds with gauze and bandaging her shallow ones as best he could. For a moment of perfect terror he heard booming footfalls approach him, and he fell onto the Sister's stomach to shield her, aiming his shotgun at the approaching mass. He nearly wept again when he realized it was Sigma jogging to them. The Big Daddy stopped and knelt down to Joe, handing him two vials of ADAM, they were small, and would only aid the Sibling's healing abilities, but they were the most beautiful thing Joe had ever seen in that moment. He took them quickly and began uncorking one as he poured it into Anna's mouth, raising her head so the glowing liquid could slide down her throat. He looked back to Omega, and the Brother was on his feet now, trading blows with the Monster of a NeoSplicer, his giant fists slamming into the Beast. With each heavy hit Joe could hear the Brother's knuckles breaking and the Beast's armor cracking from the sheer force, but none of it mattered, all that mattered was that his Sisters survived, that Lizzy and everyone else survived.

Joe looked up to Sigma and shouted pleadingly, "You have to help him, Sigma!" Even as the Big Daddy was already standing to make his way to the Brother.

"Run! Run!" Shouting came over the roar of Omega's war cries and the NeoSplicer's enraged growling.

Joe and Sigma turned their heads to see Archer, Seline, and Mark sprinting as fast as they could toward them, pure horror on their faces. Joe didn't know what they were horrified from, the state of the Protectors, or what they had seen out in the District but he swallowed hard at the sight of them.

"They're going to flood the District!" Archer yelled. "We have to get everyone out of here!" Seline echoed. "Get everyone out now!" Mark's shout came. Joe felt his blood run cold, and without any hesitation the bearded man darted for the collapsed front of the Fire station as the sounds of panic and battle filled the air behind him. Archer, Seline, and Mark followed soon after, giving the battle between the two Titans a wide birth as the climbed over the rubble of the Fire station's entrance.

Tenenbaum and Lizzy jumped hard when the four of them burst into the barracks, both of them spinning to face the door as it flew open and hit the brick wall with a loud clang.

"Get Tokerev up and take Lizzy, we have to go!" Joe shouted breathlessly. "What? I don't unde-" Tenenbaum's response was cut short when Archer, Seline, and Mark burst in behind him, panting and sweating heavily. "Grab the girl and let's go! Now!" Archer shouted angrily, causing the older woman to jump and grab Lizzy.

"Mark, help me with him!" Archer yelled as he took one of Tokerev's arms, Mark immediately grabbed the other and they lifted the man to his feet as he screamed in pain.

"No! He cannot be moved yet!" Tenenbaum tried to say, forgetting what they had just said in favor of Tokerev's health.

"They're going to flood the District, if we don't get out of here then we're all dead! Move!" Archer shouted loudly, shaking her at both his words and tone. The two men dragged Tokerev out of the room and toward the ruined entrance of the Fire station hurriedly, adrenaline fueling them to pull the large man along with them like he was a paper weight. When they reached the outside again, they saw Sigma pouring a vial of ADAM into Iota's mouth, her helmet off and laying beside her as the Big Daddy quickly looked from the Sister's bloody face to Omega, still battling the NeoSplicer Protector.

When the group of humans reached the street, all of them shouted various things, chief among them was a panicked "We have to leave!". After emptying the vial of ADAM into Iota's limp mouth he stood and strode toward Omega to help, but the Brother put his hand up and roared at the Big Daddy with such force that made even him stop his advance. Omega was held close by the NeoSplicer, one of it's massive hands on his shoulder armor, crushing it with it's immense strength, the other nub arm wrapped around the Brother's waist as it tried to gnash it's bloody teeth into his neck. Omega had one hand around the Monster's throat holding it at bay, the other pointed to Iota and Anna desperately as he gave a screeching, pleading roar to the Big Daddy. Sigma nodded and understood immediately, they were the priority, they were defenseless.

The Protector quickly turned and knelt down to Iota again and gently placed her helmet back on her head with fingers the size of a normal man's wrists. Once it hissed into place, he picked her up under one arm, not caring about her wounds, only her life. His thunderous footsteps made their way to Anna and he picked the helmetless Sister up and slung her over his shoulder while the Humans stared at Omega and the Beast as they grappled. Sigma turned and gave one last look to the Brother, his brow scrunching in concern beneath his helm. The Brother nodded to him, and roared as he pointed away from himself and the Titan he fought, leaving no room for argument. When they heard the roar, the humans in their group took off running in the opposite direction, Sigma carrying the two wounded Sisters behind them. Everyone was turning back now and then to see the scene of the Brother's struggle fading behind them as they left, hoping, even praying that he would defeat the Beast at the last moment and join them, until finally they rounded a street corner, and the battle stayed behind.

"Archer, where are we going?" Tenenbaum asked, Lizzy's small form clutching to her side as she carried the girl on her hip.

"There's an access tunnel that leads out of the District under a shop a few streets away." Archer said grimly.

"You can't mean... Archer, that tunnel's probably flooded, pitch black if not!" Joe said, panic and desperation clear in his voice at remembering the dank cellar they had cleared.

"Well it's the only choice we have! The damn Splicers sealed the air-locks behind them!..." He roared in anger. "This is the only way out now, we don't have a choice, sure it's pitch black, yes it has NeoSplicers in it, and make no mistake they are in it, but right now, in this moment, it's all we fucking have!" Archer growled. "Unless you'd like to swim out of here!" He added. Joe gritted his teeth as his knuckles turned white gripping his shotgun. Everyone else held their breath at the news and plan, their expressions turning from worry to hopelessness. Archer noticed their expressions and grimaced, he hadn't spent much time with civilians in Rapture since he had arrived, and he forgot sometimes that he wasn't speaking to soldiers or war trained veterans like he had with Tokerev, bluntly and honestly.

"Look..." He said, a softer tone entering his voice as they all ran.

"The Tunnels might be dark, but I got some flares with us for light, and they each burn for at least thirty minutes, I made sure to grab mine and Tokerev's Emergency bags before we left." He said, looking to the various faces around them, adjusting the bags over his shoulders as if to reassure himself that he had. He saw their expressions lift slightly, at least some of them, but others were still hopeless, and he sighed heavily. "We have a Big Daddy with us for God sake! Tokerev and I never had anything like that when we were out here on our own surviving! He has spotlights on his helmet, and plasmids! We'll be alright. We just have to move along the tunnels until we see light, and we'll be out. We'll have the entrance to our backs, so we know they can only come from one direction, and a normal man with flares and a flashlight could hold those tunnels against a hundred of those screeching Bastards by himself!" He said, purposefully leaving out the part his logical mind was screaming at him, the part about the tunnels eventually splitting into multiple directions, leaving them exposed in front as well as in back, and his fear that a NeoSplicer adapted to light could find them there, and not care about how many flashlights or flares they had. Despite his fears he saw their faces and gazes lift slightly and he nodded to himself, if only a little. He had at least given them hope enough to enter the tunnel. What came next would be much harder.

. . .

Omega faced his Enemy with all of the hatred he had ever felt in this accursed place, fists clenched, despite his broken arm, fangs bared despite missing a few teeth. Muscles pumping adrenaline, despite losing blood as well. He felt nothing but disgust and hatred for this Beast, pure, white, hot, hatred. The Monster charged him again, but instead of the first time it charged him, it limped, it grunted, and it bled. He would see this Creature, this Abomination slain even if it cost him his life. When the Beast reached him he jumped shakily to the side every muscle in his body screaming at him that he needed rest and healing. When the Monster almost passed him in a blind charge, the Brother turned, grabbing the Beast by it's one remaining good arm and spun it around, as he let go, the Protector kicked his leg out hard and caught the NeoSplicer in it's stomach, more chitinous shell splintered and the Beast flew backwards toward an already ruined storefront, crashing through it in a flurry of dust, glass shards, and broken stone. The Brother walked toward the hole in the store he had created, the NeoSplicer as his wrecking ball, and stepped inside.

Omega leapt on the Beast, now on it's back, and began slamming broken fists into the Monster's shattered, bleeding face. It Squealed a porcine cry of pain as the Protector assaulted it, each hit reminding him of his Sisters. Each hit reminding him of their unmoving bodies, and his failure to keep them safe from harm. He hated this Creature, this Thing, as he hated all other Vermin in Rapture that sought to end his Family. His fist smashed the Beast's face, it's jaw hanging limp as it dislocated and screamed in pain.

The NeoSplicer's hand wrapped around his ankle and pulled him down, slamming his side into the rubble below, pain filling his broken arm and the rest of his body, every wound burning and stinging with fresh pain, but he ignored it. As the Monster rose to it's feet, it's hand still wrapped around his ankle, cracking his bone. The Brother pulled his large knife once more and shot up suddenly, stabbing the NeoSplicer Protector in the eye hard enough to wedge the blade half way deep in it's armored skull. The Titan roared in pain and shop windows that weren't already touched by the battle shattered as it clawed vainly at it's face trying to pull the weapon free.

Omega rose quickly and reared back before his head shot forward, headbutting the blade deeper into the Monster's head, a follow up uppercut to the Beast's stomach doubled it over, and a heavy front kick sent it flying from the shop out into the street again. The Brother wasted no time, and sprinted after the Beast, despite the protest from his muscles, wounds, and bones. As he reached the ruined shopfront, a massive explosion filled the air and shook the entire City beneath his feet. He turned to his left, and saw a wall of dark water rushing toward him with the force of the entire Ocean. The Brother's eyes narrowed, uncaring for the massive unstoppable force that came for the two of them. He lunged forward, wrapping both arms around the Beast's neck as it lay on it's stomach, and the force of the water hit them, sweeping them away.

They tumbled, the NeoSplicer flailing pathetically in his grasp as he held on to both the Monster and his own consciousness, his suit was no longer sealed, and he could feel ice cold salt water pouring over his open wounds, burning and freezing them.

Good. He thought, the ice cold water would slow his bleeding enough for him to kill the Abomination that had hurt his Family, it was all he needed now, time. As they tumbled, street after street he fought his way closer and closer to the Creature's armored head, clawing his way up it's body from where the force of the water's impact had drug him down to the Monster's legs. He reached the Beast's shoulders and head as the water calmed and they floated on, spinning in the current. When they stopped spinning, he grabbed the handle of his knife, still stuck in the NeoSplicer's eye. He released the deep breath he had been holding and gave an ear splitting war cry of defiance, defiance against the Beast, defiance against the City, the Ocean, against death itself. As the Brother cried, his arms, shoulders, entire body sparked with blue electricity, and he directed all of it into a single point, his knife's blade. He and the NeoSplicer shook and convulsed, water boiled around them and bubbles rose in great heaps to a ceiling that offered no escape. The Brother screeched and screeched in anger and hatred as every last ounce of his strength poured into the Beast's eye socked along with his blade. When he stopped, the Monster had stopped moving, and he let go, feeling the weightlessness of the Ocean for the first time.

He couldn't move his arms or legs, couldn't move any part of his body, all he could do was float. He knew even if he could though, it wouldn't matter. He didn't have the strength to swim, his suit didn't have any oxygen left, and it was ripped apart besides. Even now water was slowly seeping into his helmet, crawling closer and closer to his mouth and nose. His vision blurred, the world around him, clear and pristine, perfectly preserved in the frigid Sea water blurred. His eyes weakly followed a lone fish that swam by, his labored breath echoed in his helmet, his visor lights began blinking out, and the world went dark.

The last thing he felt before slipping into nothingness, were hands on his body, pulling at him, taking him somewhere.