BEDLAM II: Heart of Glass

by Gormless Wheaton

Chapter 8

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With a cough that quickly morphed into a series of groans, I raised my head. I wasn't sure if I'd blacked out, but I definitely wasn't sure what happened after the road exploded, and I suddenly found myself painfully lying on a pile of rubble in a dark room.

Reaching up, I tried to adjust my glasses only to feel that one of the lenses had popped out and the other had a crack through it. I moaned and tried to sit up, with painful but eventually successful results. Slowly and shakily, I rose to my feet and after steadying myself, I patted myself down.

Nothing felt broken, but my right leg was definitely tender, and my ribs were aching. With a hissing inhale, I searched my coat until I found one of my blasting talismans. I shot it off in the air to provide some light, which confirmed that I'd fallen into one of the lower chambers of the old Citadel. I fired a few more times to try and scan the room for anyone else, but all I saw was rubble and the half-buried doorway out.

I couldn't even make out the hole I'd fallen into, which could mean that more of the upper level had fallen in. With a grunt, I began hobbling my way to the door, where I had to clench my teeth as I bent to crawl under it. Tumbling out into the hallway, I let out a sharp cry as I landed on my back again.

"Fuck this," I thought as I searched my other coat pocket. "Sorry, Jury."

I drew my pouch of syringes, all of which had managed to survive the fall, and slipped one out. Pulling its cap off with my teeth, I adjusted my grip and jabbed it into my leg. The effect was almost immediate, and all pain and discomfort melted away, replaced by a shocking jolt of vitality with which I rolled to my feet. I stretched and basked in the sensation before replacing my pouch into my coat.

"Bedlam! Was that you?" Came a call from further up the hall. Turning I saw some of my troops rounding a corner bearing flashlights.

"Over here," I called out, drawing their attention. Their leader, the captain from the ship, blinked and nudged the minotaur to his left before they began approaching. "Where's Tempest?"

"No clue," he hummed, fingers drumming his long-barreled weapon. I raised an eyebrow. "Which probably makes this the best chance we'll get, huh?"

I glanced at the doorway I'd slipped under. "What chance is that?" The half-chipped paint read 'Workshop 09,' telling me exactly where I was in the complex.

"You might recall most of us were reassigned from Minos," he said with a grim laugh. "But I don't suppose you ever thought just how many minotaurs Celestia and Luna were working with, or how long we were all in touch with them?"

"Never gave it much thought, no," my left hand quickly drew my blasting pistol and fired a beam like what I'd used against the Legion of Doom. Aided by the adrenaline, my aim was steady and the beam shot straight. The wave pierced right through his chest and carried on through his fellows just behind him. Those who hadn't been hit fell to the side with a shout, allowing me to whirl around and take off down the opposite way.

I dove down the first intersection I came to just as they recovered and began returning fire. The hallway I'd left became a light show as magic beams shot down its length. I kept running, occasionally whirling around and aiming my pistol. As a result of this routine, the first of their group to turn down the hall after me was shot and killed.

"You better run!" One of them shouted after me.

"For Minos!" Another added.

"Freedo-" That one's cry died in his throat, but not from any attack of mine. I spared a glance back and had to stop and take in what I saw. They'd stopped pursuing me for a moment, as they were now leering nervously at the blast door that had slammed shut behind them, crushing their fellow in two.

I furrowed my brow and then recoiled when someone on the opposite side of the door began pounding. Despite how thick the door was, a faint set of screams were echoing through it. Then, the entire door lurched inwards with a thud, and the pounding stopped.

An uneasy quiet held the hall which was broken when the door slid open, revealing a thoroughly unnerving sight. For starters, the lights had kicked on. Besides that, half of the minotaurs that had been chasing me lay dead and broken. It seemed that the specimen who had been banging on the door met his end when he was suddenly and violently slammed into it. With enough force to crush him and cause the door to bend.

Slowly, the minotaurs looked between each other and then at me. But before anything could happen, a second blast door slammed shut between me and them.

"Ah," I huffed before turning and sprinting as fast as I could run. For a few minutes, my boots hitting the ground was the only sound that followed, and I rapidly found myself approaching what had once been an underground storage chamber. Inside would be plenty of cover, while the room would be big enough to give me room to maneuver and avoid getting pinned.

As I dashed towards it, I slid to a halt. Further up the hall, I heard a set of hooves stomping my way. Around a corner up ahead one of the minotaurs came running, covered in blood and missing a horn, and with an absolutely manic look in his eyes. The hall I'd left them behind in must have wrapped all the way around to here, which wasn't an uncommon design for me.

I raised my blasting pistol and took a shot, but by pure chance, he stumbled and the beam missed him. Before I had a chance to react, he was upon me and slapped my outstretched hand aside, knocking the pistol from my grip.

With his other hand, he reached out to grab me and I threw myself back with a shout. He caught the fringe of my coat and wrenched it back, causing it to rip off and sending me tumbling to the ground. My talismans went scattering across the floor away from me, but my pouch of needles came sliding right up to me.

More out of panic than for any sort of plan, I grabbed it right as the minotaur fell onto me and wrapped his hands around my throat.

"MAKE IT STOP," he roared through clenched teeth as he strangled me. "TELL IT TO STOP!" I choked and clawed at his arm and face to no avail. As my vision started to fade, I gripped the pouch in my other hand. Blinking, I desperately fumbled it open, plucked out the remaining syringes, and ripped the caps off before stabbing them under his arm.

He grunted and whined, and his hands began to shake. The veins in his face and neck bulged and his grip tightened for a moment before he threw himself back with a wail. Clutching his head, he gurgled and yelled before falling flat on his back.

I sat panting and choking for a moment before I weakly rolled to my side and propped myself up on my arm. I leered at the fallen minotaur for a moment before I spied my blasting pistol and slowly pushed to my feet. Collecting my weapon, I stood over him and took aim at his head. But then he spasmed and knocked my feet out from under me, causing my shot to go wide.

Before I could take aim again, he grabbed my arm with one hand and my throat with the other. Squeezing my arm, I choked out a scream as he crushed my wrist. My pistol fell from my grip and he began to apply a similar pressure to my neck.

But then, a flash and a screech peeled through the hall. His grip relaxed and smoke rose from the blackened hole blasted clear through his face from the back. Again, I coughed and sputtered as he slumped off to the side. The adrenaline was still in effect, so the pain in my arm wasn't completely debilitating. This allowed me to slowly sit up and look down the hall where he'd come running initially, and where that blast had come from.

And my jaw dropped at what I saw.

[Are you okay, Eddy?] She asked with genuine fear in her voice as she clanked her way toward me.

"KS 6?"

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Comments

[SleeplessChatter]

That bit at the end. I read the prologue again just to remind myself of what the hacker was up to. If I'm thinking right, I did not expect them to be it. Given how they behaved and ended up in the first story... not sure its a good thing that they've spun themselves back up.