“These tools are worthless.” Sasha threw a power drill across Myra’s workshop, knocking over a pile of cans. “Awh, man, those were my best cans!” Myra reached out from her couch, her brown eyes casting faint light between the sunbeams that peered in between the cracks in the walls. “I’m leaving. Keep my screwdriver, you gave it back all oily after you said you needed it.” Myra blushed, and Sasha was gone. As Sasha made her way to the Tower tram, she pulled out a small, holographic tablet from her pocket. She dialed Harrol and put the screen to her ear. “Hello?” Harrol asked through the phone. “Hey, it’s Sasha. Myra sucks. She eats all the chips and does weird things with my tools.” Sasha stepped onto the tram, and it whizzed up the side of the tower. “Sasha, it’s three in the mor-” “I need a gun I can [i]use[/i], Harrol.” He lay awake in bed, leaning over the side of the bed. His tablet’s glow radiated against his face. “Sasha, I don’t know what to do.” A yell was heard through the phone. Harrol, wanting to go to sleep, just spoke the first thing that came to him. “Uhm-- Rasputin’s gotta have a pretty good workshop?” He slapped his face, remembering her past with him. The line went silent, and Harrol groaned. “Not a bad idea.” Sasha stepped out of the tram, and Harrol jumped. “Got plenty of tech, I could make some impressive stuff.” Harrol sighed in relief. “Well, then- when are we going and what should we do?” Sasha suddenly appeared by his bedside. She flipped the mattress, Harrol tumbling off. “We’re going right now and heading to a bunker in Old Toronto!” Sasha threw a shirt on him, and put her armour on. “Heads up!” Sasha lugged Harrol’s helmet directly at him. |======================| Sasha stood in front of the bunker doors, her helmet off and her embering hair blowing in the cold wind. “Hey, could we pick up some Maple Syrup of our way back? There’s a little colony awhile east of here.” Harrol slung Super Good Advice over his shoulder. “That’d be good.” Ralph holstered his binoculars and jumped down from his vantage point. “I’d be fine with that, but let’s get this done [i]first[/i], okay? We’re going into a hardly mapped Rasputin bunker and need to keep our wits about us.” Sasha held her fusion rifle. “Let’s go in.” The door creaked and whirred open, rusted metal moving apart to allow them entry. |======================| “Ghost, put up the map.” Sasha asked her ghost, it’s blue eye twinkling in the darkness. A map suddenly appeared on her screen. “Thanks.” Sasha said, studying the map. “Holy shit, the workshop is deep!” Sasha squinted, looking at the dot that was their destination. “Rasputin must not want anybody getting ahold of his tech.” Ralph said, studying some markings on the wall. “Well, tough for him. I need a good weapon.” Sasha kicked over a vent. “This way, leads down.” She said, hopping down. The rest followed, jumping into the dark. Sasha landed with a thud and looked around, her ghost providing light. “Which way now?” Sasha said, Harrol landing behind her. “Left.” Ghost said, as Ralph landed behind Sasha with all the grace of a cane toad. Sasha put her palm to her visor and sighed. “Ralph, you can float for a reason.” “Gliding only helps to cross gaps!” He stood up. “It barely does [i]shit[/i] against current momentum!” He jabbed a finger at Sasha’s chest. “Geez, Ralph, [b]calm down[/b].” Harrol looked at him, shaking his head from side to side rapidly, warning him. Ralph immediatly realized his mistake and shrunk. Sasha’s golden visor reflected what little light there was onto Ralph’s face, making him look yellow. Ralph tried to read what she was thinking, but her helmet and posture didn’t allow it. She just… stood over him. She turned around and walked down the stairs, fusion rifle in hand. |======================| Ralph sighed in relief as he took off his helmet. “What the hell has gotten into you, man?” Harrol said, running up to him. “Just… leave me alone.” Ralph muttered angrily, rubbing his arm. “I’m just a little on edge, that’s all.” “Yeah, but you don’t [i]sass[/i] Sasha! She will rip your damn spine out!” Harrol said the last part with clenched teeth. The warlock glared at Harrol. “Well, that’s what ghosts are for, right?” “Harrol? You coming?” Sasha yelled from the bottom of the staircase. “COMING, SASH!” He yelled down them. He jabbed a finger into Ralph’s chest. “Be careful, man. She will crush you.” Ralph made an ‘okay’ motion with his hands and put his helmet back as they went down the staircase. |======================| “Hold on.” Sasha’s ghost said, appearing in front of them. “I’m detecting increased electrical activity in this sector of the bunker.” “What do you mean?” Harrol asked. “I mean, that there are traps in this sector.” “Oh.” Harrol said, slinging SGA over his back. “What kind of traps?” “I… can’t tell. I can only sense the patterns of the wiring, but they’re fuzzy.” Ghost’s casing swirled. “So we’re going in blind?” Sasha said, clipping her fusion rifle onto her belt. “Yes.” Ghost disappeared. “Watch your step.” |======================| Sasha lead the group as they passed through a long, empty room. “What the hell is this used for?” Ralph asked, looking up. “Dunno. Maybe an empty storage room.” Harrol answered, constantly looking backwards. Sasha’s ghost appeared in front of them. “This doesn’t… the layout of this room doesn’t feel like a storage room.” There was a shuffing sound as Ralph took a step. “Oh, shit.” A series of rapid clicks followed, accompanied by the whirring of gears. Harrol gulped audibly. “That doesn’t sound good.” Sasha looked at the end of the hallway. She looked at the walls. “[i]GO[/i]!”, she yelled. The trio began to sprint down the hallway, the walls closing in on them. “This hallway seemed a lot shorter when we were walking down it!” Harrol yelled, in the middle of the pack. Sasha’s ghost appeared in front of them. “That would be the panic thinking. Gets to the best of us.” “Now is not a good time for a lecture, Ghost!” Sasha snatched the block out of the air and held it in her fist. Harrol looked down the hallway, at Sasha. He looked back at Ralph. “Damn it…”, he muttered. He stopped in his tracks and let the other two pass him. “What are you doing?” Ralph said, running past him. “Just keep going!” Harrol said, motioning towards them. The walls were now shoulder-width apart, and they weren’t anywhere near the door. Harrol’s fists infused with arc light as he placed his fists against the walls, pushing them apart. He grunted as he pushed against the force of hundreds of pistons. Sasha was now shuffling sideways down the narrow hall. “C’mon, c’mon…” Sasha muttered to herself. She noticed the walls had slowed their push, but she thought nothing of it. She was still a good thirteen feet away. She pushed out the other side and reached for Harrol, only to pull out Ralph. “Where the hell is Harrol!?” Sasha said, throwing him at a wall. She looked down the narrow straight, only to see a ball of blue light in the middle of the hallway. “Harrol!” Sasha was helpless as she watched the blue light flicker, and then disappear. The walls slammed shut. “No, no, no, no, no!” Sasha pulled an axe from her thigh and thunked it into the crack in the wall. “RALPH GET THE FUGG OVER HERE BEFORE I MAKE YOU!” Ralph got up and ran to Sasha. “Y- yes, Sasha?” Ralph asked. “Do you have his ghost?” “I… I don’t.” Sasha looked at him and then at her axe. She felt a fire in her chest and her axe lit up. She jammed her fist into the crease and pushed it to the side. While Sasha was wasting her time, her Ghost was already working on how to reverse the pistons. It only took him fifteen minutes. |======================| Sasha ran down the hallway to get to what was once Harrol. “Harrol!” Sasha kneeled at the red glob of muscle and armor, the walls stained in red. “Oh traveler, oh traveler…” She took off her helmet and set it to the side. Ralph stood unmoving, hands clenching and unclenching. “Wait.” Sasha’s ghost appeared in front of her, looking down at the blob. “His ghost’s core is still intact.” “Intact?” Sasha wiped away tears. “There’s still a chance we can help him. We just need to bring the core to the tower. Amanda might be able to help.” “With what?” “Getting him a new ghost, perhaps. No knowing how long that could take, though.” “Then…” Sasha reached into the pile and pulled out the black core, which was blinking blue light. “That’s what we’ll do.” “But…” Sasha’s ghost hesitated. “...we need to bring back the body, as well.” Sasha looked at the pile. “We’ll pick him up on the way back.” She caught Ralph’s gaze, staring blankly at her through his helmet. If he was upset, he showed no sign of it. She looked away. |======================| They finally reached the armoury. The silence was thick between the two guardians, with just the echo of their steps to accompany them. “I hope Harrol’s okay.” Ralph finally broke the silence. Sasha stopped walking. “What do you care?” She spat, spinning around to face him. “You’re the one who stepped on the plate. You’re the one who abandoned him-” A hand smacked into her face, making her drop her helmet. “Don’t you play the blame game with me, Sasha. It could’ve easily been you or even Harrol himself to step on that plate, and you know it.” He handed her her helmet. “I’ve just gotten used to losing people by now.” Ralph strided angrily ahead, a silent storm. Sasha glared daggers into the warlock and clicked her helmet back into place. “What the hell happened, Ralph? You used to be nice.” Without looking back and without stopping, Ralph said “When I realized that if a certain someone was here, this whole thing would’ve never happened.” |======================| Sorry I haven't posted in so long, procrastination is hard work. I'll add links to everything soon. ~ The Management - Zebra