Chapter Text
“So, you’re immortal.”
“Yes.”
“And your name is, as far as we know, a whole bunch of garbage noise that nobody can understand.”
“Pretty much.”
“And you can’t tell us—“
“Look,” the immortal Expendable raised a gloved hand to interrupt Chief. “While we’d love to continuously rehash the same hashbrowns of facts over and over again until the heat death of the universe— at this current moment in time, our priorities are to complete our mission! Not speculate over what the fuck is up with everything involving ourselves.”
Chief let out a deep sigh, looking down at the ground. “Right. Alright. But damn this is just— a whole lot to take in, y’know?”
“As opposed to all the other bullshit we’ve been dealing with down here?” Medic scoffed. “C’mon, chief. Some guy who’s freaking invincible isn’t that hard to imagine.”
Chief merely raised his hands up in exasperation, turning away to instead gaze out at the bridge beyond the observation deck.
The unknown monster was still standing in the middle of the walkway, still as a specter. Its single eye glowing a lurid purple-ish blue whilst several spots along its tentacle-like tails pulsed with a similar light.
Even though it was far away, Chief estimated that the enemy was significantly smaller than Sebastian, and it was crazy to think that such a diminutive creature had managed to nearly kill the big fish monster. Apparently it secreted some sort of poison?
“So are we gonna come up with a plan or what?” Punch-out asked as she sat back against a nearby console. “As much as a problematic dickhead Sebastian is, I’d really hate to see him get himself killed out there.”
“Yeah, he needs to stay alive— it’s important.” The Immortal Expendable assured with a frantic nod. “If we lose him, then all this will be for nothing! HE HAS TO LIVE!”
“Uh-huh, sure...” Medkit Expendable sounded less than enthused about the immortal Expendable’s devotion to Sebastian Solace’s continued wellbeing, still miffed about the Saboteur’s over violent reaction earlier. “We’ll do our best to keep your fishman alive, kiddo.”
“Don’t call us kiddo.” They replied with a sniff. “I’m pretty sure we’re older than you.”
“Oh really,” Medkit sounded as though they had raised a skeptical brow. “And just how old are you?”
The immortal Expendable held up a finger and sucked in a breath to respond. “I am—̵̮̂—̴̦̽-̴̥̌1̴̖̓2̴̖̍,̴̼́ ̴̻̌2̷̗̄3̴̣͂,̵̝͑ ̶̼͒8̶̲͐7̷̖͐,̷͙͠ ̵̝͝3̷͍́2̸̣̅,̷̝̀ ̶̜̚3̷̀ͅ3̴̠͋,̵͈͑ ̴̼̒4̶͋͜5̸̙̕,̴͈͠ ̶̖͒6̷͇͝7̵̟̚,̵̂ͅ ̵̡̈́2̵̡͆8̵̠̆,̴̹͒ ̴̻̓2̴̨̈́6̴̣̓6̴̥̂6̴̫̃6̷̗̽6̷̟̄6̵̼̒6̴̞̐6̵̹͌6̷͓͐6̴̢̓6̷͚̀6̴̠̽6̶̥͘6̴̥̂ 6̷̲̈́6̷̳͐6̴͈͗6̵̙̄6̷̣̄6̵̢̀6̴͔̉6̴̩͘6̷͎͗6̵̩̊6̶͍̀6̵͚͘ 6̷͓̀6̶͚̄6̷͔̇6̴̼̿6̵̝͗6̴̦͆6̴̥͝6̶̹̆6̴̲̔6̷̡̾6̵̥͂6̶̳̎6̶̗̃6̵̩̇6̸̬͑6̵̻̃6̷̗̋6̶̜̈6̶̹̕6̶͎͠6̶̘͐P̷̧̑i̸͙͝–̴̰̕ OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER!”
There was silence as the other humans exchanged mask-obscured looks with one another.
“…..Okay…” Medkit shifted uncomfortably. “Just going to ignore that— Chief, you’re army, right? Do you have any ideas on what we should do in order to get past that thing on the bridge?”
Chief made a discontented grunt, still staring out at said thing on the bridge. “I’m retired. And I was a foot soldier, I wasn’t in charge of any of the tactical thinking, I was just told what to shoot.”
“So, no plans?”
“I didn’t say that…” Chief shook his head. “I might have an idea. But it might be a bit crazy.”
“Oh no,” White visibly cringed. “This isn’t gonna be like that one idea you had with the locker dominoes, is it?
“Well…”
“Oh god…”
“I’ve got a lovely bunch of fishy friends~” Painter softly sing-songed to itself as it lifted one of the fishlets in a mechanical claw and placed it next to the others it had lined up. “Here they are all sitting in a row~ Doo~doo~doo~” The AI had arranged the fishlets from the smallest to the largest that their limbs could easily lift, with Dart being the smallest and the biggest being Iggy. Chomper, Beelzebub and Sachiel were too heavy for the AI’s rather spindly limbs to pick up. “Big ones, small ones, ones as big as your head~!”
“Are you singing?” Sebastian asked with a light smirk, pausing momentarily from doing maintenance on his gun in order to look over at the computer.
“So what if I am?” Painter pivoted its monitor to show Sebastian a defiant expression. “What’re you gonna do about it?”
Sebastian merely shook his head in bemusement as he went about putting his tools away into their respective pouches. “Just didn’t realize you were multi-talented like that, buddy. Hell, maybe you can pursue a singing career after you’re done making art.”
Painter made a dismissive buzzing sound as it waved a metal claw. “Pzzt! No way! I’ll never be done making art!”
Sebastian chuckled. “Of course, how silly of me.” He unconsciously glanced up at the airlock door again.
“I’m not going to unlock the door,” the Painter said flatly, reading Sebastian’s body language way too easily.
Sebastian’s ear fins pinned back in annoyance. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You were thinking it.”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Yes, you were.”
Sebastian let out deeply aggrieved sigh, carding his claws through his hair as his serpentine body shifted about restlessly. “So, when are we going to bring up your amazing plan to throw the immortal Expendable out the airlock?”
“Yeah… well I’ve been thinking about that.” The Painter’s expression turned pensive. “I realize now that it’d probably be a really stupid idea.”
Sebastian clasped his hands together, putting on his most reassuring smile. “Aw, don’t be so hard on yourself, Paints. It sounds like a fantastic plan!”
Painter squinted dubiously at the fishman. “Uh-huh… See, that right there is why I’m not keen on going through with it.”
“What ever do you mean?” Sebastian asked quizzically, casually brushing a lock of hair out of his face as he feigned ignorance. “I’m more than willing to give it the good ol’ fashion college try! After all, if it doesn’t work, I’m sure we can think of something else.”
The Painter stared at Sebastian for several long seconds, but Sebastian’s casual grin remained unwavering as he gazed intently back at the computer.
A little too intently.
“You just want me to unlock the doors so that you can slip outside as soon as the airlock cycles for the human.” Painter concluded.
Sebastian’s pleasant expression morphed into a displeased frown, and he looked away with an offended scoff as he placed a weary hand upon his chest. “I’m hurt, Painter! You would accuse me of going along with your brilliant plan only to go behind your back at the last moment in order to pursue my own endeavor to defeat the unknown entity?”
“Yes.” Painter didn’t even hesitate. “Yes, I would. Because you are a slimy con-man and a lying sneak!”
Sebastian’s ear flicked and his expression twitched as he felt a pinprick of actual hurt at hearing that come from the AI. But he quickly quashed any misgivings he may have had at being called out, because— while Sebastian was loathe to admit it out loud— Painter was right.
“Fine. Fair enough.” He sighed with defeat, slouching against the wall beside the Painter. “Clearly, you know me too well, buddy...”
Painter’s expression became a triumphant smirk at having foiled the fishman’s plan, but it quickly flickered to a sad smile.
“I really meant it when I said I wasn’t going to let you get yourself killed,” the computer made an electronic humming sound that vaguely resembled a sigh. “I… I really don’t know what I’d do if you were gone. I don’t think… I’d be able to continue if you’d… Look, I was really scared when you were hurt! It reminded me of when my creator got hurt— got hurt by those people who found out about me. Th-they hit him really hard on the head… and he didn’t… he didn’t wake up and I-I couldn’t—!” The Painter stopped speaking when they were suddenly lifted from the floor, their limbs waving about in surprise before reflexively wrapping around the arms that were now hugging them to Sebastian’s chest.
Sebastian didn’t say anything, he just held the computer, his chin resting atop its monitor. Hesitantly, the Painter’s mechanical limbs tightened around Sebastian’s arms to reciprocate the show of comfort. They had both gone through so much and they were both hurting in their own ways.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Painter became aware of the fact that the fishman was making an odd thrumming sound low in his throat. It reminded the AI of the sound its own whirring internal fans made… Or more like—
“What are you laughing at?” Sebastian grumbled as he shifted to glare down at the suddenly snickering AI.
“Are you-“ Painter’s face was flickering as they struggled to keep their electronic giggling under control. “Are you PURRING?!?”
“Urrgh!” Sebastian held the now cackling computer out at arms length with a disgusted look. “You ruined it. You ruined our heartwarming moment and now I will have no shame when I drop you.”
“NOnono-PLease! Hahaha!” The AI had doodled tears at the corners of their eyes as they frantically held onto Sebastian’s arms with all 8 of their limbs. “I’m SORRY! IT’s just— EHAHaHA! I didn’t know you could PuRR like a CAT—“
“Dropping you now,” Sebastian dramatically let go of the computer, but the AI remained hanging onto his outstretched arms like a cybernetic octopus.
“What’s this about Sebastian purring?!”
Of course the immortal Expendable wouldn’t miss this as they charged down the stairs, just barely avoiding tripping over Sachiel— who had sat inconveniently at the foot of the staircase.
“Nothing!” Sebastian snapped, gritting his teeth as he glared balefully at the still laughing AI. “There was no purring! You heard nothing!”
The immortal Expendable was followed by the Medkit Expendable, who trudged down the stairs at a more sedate pace as the immortal Expendable bounded up to Sebastian.
“Okay! Well, we have a plan to deal with the llort atop the bridge!” The immortal Expendable announced with all the cheer of a child presenting their parent with a gift.
“Llort…?” Sebastian repeated in confusion.
“Y’know how trolls linger under bridges?” The immortal Expendable explained. “Well then what lingers on top of bridges? Sllorts! Or in this case a llort!”
“Oh, it’s like troll but backwards.” Painter beeped with realization. The AI had gradually managed the feat of lowering itself closer to the ground by extending its limbs, before tentatively unlatching one claw from where it was holding onto Sebastian’s arm and reaching down to set its claw onto the ground.
“Right…” Sebastian took pity on the AI and leaned down to let the computer more easily disembark from his person. “So, what is this plan that you are you proposing?”
This was a stupid plan.
Granted, it was a better plan than just letting Sebastian throw himself at the monster, but it was still a pretty shitty plan.
Why? because it relied on the stupidity of the opposition in order to work.
If a plan you make relies on the enemy being dumber than you are, then it’s a bad plan from the get-go.
What the humans had proposed was that they let the airlock door cycle open, and then trick the monster out on the bridge into coming into the airlock. Most likely by having the immortal Expendable stand inside and wave their arms idiotically until the monster came at them. Then Painter would cycle the airlock in reverse so that the monster was now in the control room, allowing Painter to hose it down with turret fire.
Seemed simple enough, right? Nothing could possibly go wrong.
Well, actually there were several snags in that plan that Sebastian gladly pointed out.
#1: The airlock doors took a long fucking time to cycle open and close, which would give the monster ample opportunity to realize what was going on and dash back out onto the bridge before it could get trapped on the other side.
#2: The internal defense turrets didn’t cover the entire control room, and while there was a turret that had a clear shot at the stairwell to the airlocks, there was no telling how fast and agile the unknown monster was.
#3: Everything relied on the assumption that the monster was even effected by bullets.
Nevertheless, the humans were willing to give it a try, since the alternative was to either waste time finding a way around the monster or waste time sitting around with their thumbs up their asses hoping the monster would go away.
To be safe, everyone moved 2 rooms back, with the Painter locking each door behind them while the AI kept an eye on the security cameras located within the control room.
The immortal Expendable remained in the control room, standing patiently in front of the airlock as its lights switched from red to green and the doors began to cycle open.
After that, Painter didn’t have a camera view to easily see what happened next.
This was a great idea!
The immortal Expendable bounced on the heels of their boots as they waited for the airlock doors to open, before stepping inside and pulling the lever that would initiate the second set of doors to open.
This was a great idea.
Slowly, the doors slid open and the immortal Expendable got a good look at the unknown creature standing in the middle of the bridge.
The immortal Expendable raised a hand up and waved energetically at the motionless being. “Hello! Hi! How are you?”
The creature didn’t visibly react beyond one of its ragged ears flicking to the side and then back. It remained where it stood, stock still and motionless. It was difficult to tell if it was even breathing.
Feeling a little awkward, the immortal Expendable took a few bold steps out onto the bridge and waved both arms in the air. Maybe the creature was just short-sighted and couldn’t see them.
“Hey! Over here!”
Still nothing. It just continued to stand there… Menacingly.
“Hmm…” The human allowed their arms to flop to their sides, glancing over their shoulder at the still open airlock door and then back at the statuesque being.
Acting on impulse, the immortal Expendable abruptly charged towards the monster head on, screaming at the top of their lungs.
Surprisingly, that finally got a reaction from the creature, its glowing purple eye going wide in alarm before it promptly turned on its many tentacled tails and ran— also screaming, but in abject terror.
The two ran all the way across the bridge, both screaming like hysterical lunatics before making it to the opposite end of the bridge where the secondary set of airlock doors resided— barring the way to the sites main reactor room where the Crystal was held.
Finding itself momentarily cornered, the creature whirled around, its oily hair bristling as its tentacles writhed in a threatening manner. It hissed in fear as the immortal Expendable continued to advance on it.
The immortal Expendable slowed down, emboldened by the creature’s apparent fear and striking a menacing pose. “Ah-ha! That’s right! Be afraid, you wretched fiend! We’re not gonna let you hurt Sebastian again!”
The creature froze, its surprisingly pale face twisting with sudden feral aggression as its gaze whipped about wildly, as if searching for the fishman. “Seb…astian….” It hissed in a small voice which rasped slightly. “Must… find…“ Its hands rose shakily to grip the sides of its head as it shuddered. “MUST KILL— No! Must…”
“Wowie, you can talk?” The immortal Expendable tilted their head to the side, intrigued. “That’s neat. Let’s start a dialogue!”
“C-can’t…” the creature’s claws gripped their ears, tugging on them in a way that looked painful as their eye frantically darted around. “Where…?! Where… is… he?!”
“Umm.” The immortal Expendable put their hands on their hips as they watched the strange display. Trying to puzzle out what the creature’s deal was. “You mean Sebastian?”
The creature twitched violently, their entire body spasming as their soft features twisted into a fanged snarl again. “KILL!”
“Noooo,” the immortal Expendable shook their head frantically, their voice taking on the cadence of someone who was speaking to a child. “No, you can’t kill him! That’s bad!”
“Bad…” It raised its head, looking around as if searching for something. “I… need to find…him.”
“Well, he’s over there,” the immortal Expendable jabbed a thumb over their shoulder, then froze as a thought occurred to them. “Hm, wait maybe we shouldn’t have—“
They blinked, realizing that the monster was no longer on the bridge.
“Uh oh…”
This might have been a bad idea.
“What the hell is that moron doing?!” Sebastian spat as he did the snake’s equivalent of pacing about the room that he and the rest of the group were holed up in. “It’s been over ten fucking minutes!”
“I don’t know!” Painter exclaimed, equally as frustrated but more worried about the fate of the immortal Expendable. “None of the cameras in the control room have a good view of the observation window! I think I caught a glimpse of movement from one camera, but I have no idea what’s going on. They haven’t cycled back through the airlock doors yet; that’s all I know!”
“Something must have gone wrong…” Chief concluded with a despairing shake of his head. “Damn it, I knew we shouldn’t have let them do it by themselves!”
“Well, what do we do now?” Dog-fucker asked. “Should we just wait? Or…”
“No. Fuck this.” Sebastian slammed his claws down on the table which the Painter was sitting on top of with the SCRAMBLER. “Painter… unlock the doors, and let me through.”
“Nope!” Painter’s metal claws dug into the table, bracing itself for a yet another shouting match again.
“Just let me into the control room,” Sebastian practically begged. “At least so we can get some idea as to what’s happening out on the bridge!”
“What if as soon as you go in there that’s when the airlock cycles through and brings the monster in?!” Painter argued back.
“Then I’ll get out and you can fill the fucker full of lead!” Sebastian reasoned, the end of his tail whipping back and forth with agitated energy, causing the humans to jump away in order to avoid getting smacked.
“And what if you aren’t fast enough, huh?!” Painter insisted, stubbornly considering every possible thing that could go wrong. “What if that monster comes charging in as fast as an Angler and tackles you?! How would I be able to shoot at it then with your fat ass in the way?!”
“Painter, I swear to the Almighty—“ Sebastian nearly shrieked, the urge to pick the computer up and shake it violently rising with every passing moment.
“Will you boys stop arguing!” White snapped, her hands on her hips. “This is getting us nowhere!”
“Careful, Jessie…” Medkit Expendable cautioned the other human quietly, wary of Sebastian’s volatile anger potentially being triggered by one of them trying to intervene.
Sebastian merely spared the humans a disdainful look, however, his focus still mostly on Painter. “We can’t just wait here forever, Paints—“
“MOVEMENT!” Painter suddenly beeped with a start. “It’s the Expendable! They’ve come back through the airlock. And— they, uh, look fine? No sign of the unknown entity.”
Sebastian’s ears flicked with confusion. What the hell had the immortal Expendable been doing out there?
“I’m unlocking the doors,” Painter announced, and it didn’t take long for the immortal Expendable to come striding into the area where the group had been waiting pensively.
“What happened?” Chief immediately demanded as he walked over to the immortal Expendable. The other humans were quick to gather around, with Medkit Expendable wordlessly poking and prodding at the immortal Expendable in search of injuries.
“We had a dialogue!” The immortal Expendable proclaimed, sounding somewhat bemused themselves.
“What.” Sebastian slid over to loom over them, the other humans quickly getting out of his way. “Do not tell me you actually made friends with it!”
“Well… No, not exactly.” The immortal Expendable shrugged. “I think she knows you, though. She started tweaking out when I mentioned your name.”
“She…?” Sebastian grimaced, not enthused about the unknown entity suddenly gaining pronouns. Because with pronouns came with a potential name, which came with the potential baggage along with it and Sebastian was finding that his pity pool was quickly reaching capacity with all the losers present in his party of misfits.
“Umm…” The immortal Expendable nervously tapped two fingers together, suddenly seeming shy. “Well, she was kinda nakey… and we def saw boobage and no dick. But then again, we’re dealing with someone who’s not human, so maybe we shouldn’t be making assumptions??? But like… I don’t know, we got mega epic girlboss vibes, is all.”
Sebastian stared unblinkingly at the Expendable, the intensity of his gaze practically burning holes into the human as he internally warred against the urge to pick them up and violently pitch them into the nearest bottomless chasm. Because, seriously, what the fuck did he just listen to?
“And…?” He barely managed to grit out through clenched teeth.
“Oh, and she’s gone now. I think we spooked her, or she’s trying to find another way—“
There was a loud crash and everyone looked towards the source of the noise. On the far wall, a grate which covered a ventilation shaft had exploded outwards, the metal frame clattering to the ground as dark tentacles waved threateningly from the now open vent.
Then the tentacles swiftly retracted, before the lithe form of the creature leapt out, landing onto the floor with cat-like poise as it rose up to survey the room.
Sebastian snarled as his muscles tensed for battle, his long body coiling about the room as the humans all scattered to get out of the way of the upcoming confrontation. The immortal Expendable shouted something along the lines of “So much for trying to plan around this!” before grabbing onto the SCRAMBLER and dragging Painter behind an overturned locker— the AI screaming expletives the entire time. The fish all scattered as well, Sachiel and Iggy scaling the side of the walls along with some of the smaller fishlets still capable of climbing, whilst Chomper doggedly followed behind the immortal Expendable, with Beelzebub hopping on top of a cabinet and knocking over several office appliances onto the floor and emitting a shrill croaking sound as Skuttle curled up into a ball and rolled underneath a nearby table.
Sebastian ignored them all as he withdrew his gun and aimed it at the creature, sighting down the barrel at his target— then he froze.
This was the first time that he had gotten a clear view of the creature’s features, it wasn’t all black as he had originally thought. Its face and body were a pale ashen color, only darkening along its extremities.
Its face— her face. Her soft and achingly familiar features— now marred and disfigured by whatever horrors she had endured as her mouth twisted into a feral snarl that exposed needle-like teeth. But it was still unmistakably her face.
Sebastian hadn’t realized when he had started shaking, but his breathes were coming in short, desperate gasps as he struggled to keep his gun arm steady. His heart hammering in his chest as his mind struggled to comprehend what he was seeing.
“No…” He whispered as the creature advanced and he shrank away. “No, no, no, no, no! It’s not real! You can’t be here! You’re not her! You’re not HER!” His voice rose into a shrill roar as he clutched his gun with both hands, old memories threatening to overwhelm him. Memories of sunny bright days, of a sweet bunny face and cute bunny ears, her melodious laugh that made butterflies flutter in his stomach. The endearing way her ears would wiggle whenever he kissed them. Memories of long nights resting on top of the hood of his car as they both stared up at the star-filled sky and talked for hours about anything and everything… about their hopes… Their dreams… their deepest fears.
Screaming. Somebody was screaming. He thought it might have been him, the gun having slipped from his grasp as he clutched his head, claws digging into his snake-like skin as he was overwhelmed with utter anguish and loss.
He couldn’t defend himself as she charged towards him, mouth agape and claws outstretched, ready to tear him apart like how his mind was currently trying to tear itself to pieces.
Suddenly she was on the ground, having been tackled from the side by an Expendable wielding a crowbar.
The metal rebar cracked against the side of her head, causing her to let out an inhuman shriek as she kicked out at the Expendable, the claws on her feet digging into the Kevlar of their suit as she kicked them off of her.
Dark blood dripped from her scalp as she rose, her eye squinting half closed as blood ran down her face and into her eye.
“You stay away from him!” The immortal Expendable shouted as they jumped to their feet and swung the crowbar again.
This time however, she caught the blow with a raised hand, gripping onto the metal hard enough that it bent.
“Oh shit—“ The immortal Expendable yelped as she batted them aside with a claw swipe. A spray a blood followed as the immortal Expendable was thrown backwards and slid across the floor, their right arm having been practically separated from their body, with only a few strands of muscle connecting the two.
Before she could turn her attention back on the still panicking Sebastian, she was thwarted by another object cracking against her skull as Chief picked up the discarded crowbar and lobbed it at the back of her head.
She whirled around, hissing as her tails writhed angrily, the muscles in her legs tensing as she prepared to lunge at the other human.
“Think fast, chuckle-nuts!” Punch-out whooped as she brought out her flash beacon and pulled the trigger, causing the rabbit monster to stagger backwards with a pained shriek.
“Seriously? It took you this long to make a TF2 reference?” Medkit Expendable shouted as they brought out their own flash beacon and pulled the trigger, flashing the monster again as it took another step back, its clawed hands covering its eye as it shook with pain.
“Shut up! I’ve just been waiting to find an actual flash grenade, is all.” Punch-out snapped back as she flashbanged the monster again, keeping it pinned. “How many charges you got left?”
“Five!” Medkit Expendable replied, flashing the monster again. “Not counting that last shot!”
“Bitch, I’ve got twelve! You gotta be better at conserving your flashes, man.”
While the two kept the monster distracted by the onslaught of flashing lights, White and Dog-fucker were trying to get the immortal Expendable back on their feet whilst Chief tried to snap Sebastian out of his catatonic state.
“Ew, ew, ew, ew, gross, gross!” Dog-fucker whined as he slung the immortal Expendable’s intact arm over his shoulder. He nearly threw-up inside his helmet as he watched a shredded piece of sinew ooze out of the ragged area where their arm was partially severed.
“Dude, seriously, stop being such a pansy!” White berated as she slipped the immortal Expendable’s face mask off. “You still with us, bud— OH good Lord what is the, up, with your face??”
“HehHh… the up.” The immortal Expendable wheezed a laugh as their head lolled to the side, their ‘face’ distortion modulating with their voice. “Yeahhh we GET that A LOT—“ They coughed as their health rapidly began to deteriorate from the extreme blood loss and shock.
Chief, meanwhile, was trying his best to get Sebastian’s attention without accidentally triggering the mutant fishman’s violent tendencies.
“Hey, fish-face! You need to snap outta whatever fugue state you’re in right now!” He shouted, but Sebastian didn’t even seem to hear him.
He had gone into a defensive coil, his body trembling with his head in his hands, cyan eyes dim and staring sightlessly at nothing as his mouth moved with unintelligible muttering. He hadn’t even reacted to the flash beacons going off nearby, which was even more concerning.
“I’m out of charges!” Medic announced, stepping back as they hurriedly searched their pockets for a spare battery.
“Sebastian keeps his store of batteries on the third pack on his tail, in the left pocket!” Painter informed from where they were stuck by the overturned locker, unable to move very far due to them being tethered to the SCRAMBLER.
Medic nodded in thanks and rushed over to where Sebastian was, quickly locating the pack and gingerly retrieving two batteries— only to yelp as a clawed hand shot out and grabbed onto their arm.
”Are you trying to fucking steal from ME?!” Sebastian hissed in the Medic’s face, his eyes suddenly bright with sharp focus.
“Are you kidding right now?!” Medkit Expendable squawked with a mixture of panic and outrage. “Us all fighting for our lives right here isn’t enough to ping your radar but the act of someone skimping you of a few batteries IS?!”
Sebastian’s ears flicked and he momentarily turned to survey the current state of affairs, and everything came back to him like a bucket of ice water being dumped on his head. His grip on the Expendable went slack as he froze, the overwhelming sense of despair threatened to cloud his perception once more—
SPAT!
Of course, Sachiel wasn’t going to let that happen again, having crawled along the ceiling like a spider in order to be directly above Sebastian. Easily putting the fish in the position to bombard the mutant sea snake with water bullets if it became necessary.
Sebastian shook his head with a grunt as water droplets flew from his hair. For a brief moment, his survival instincts kicked in for just long enough to make a decision.
Acting with haste, he quickly gathered up Painter and the SCRAMBLER before diving into another hallway. His school of fish loyally scrambled to follow, along with the humans.
Punch-out Expendable was the last to retreat, flashing the cowering creature one last time before pelting it with the spent device and running.
As soon as she made it past the door, Painter cybernetically slammed it shut.
Sebastian didn’t stop moving, however, slithering through the corridors at great speed as he clutched the Painter to his chest whilst the SCRAMBLER was slung partially over one shoulder. He was running on autopilot, his mind simply broadcasting the urgent message to FLEE— to find a safe place to HIDE.
Painter was saying something to him, but he couldn’t decipher the words due to the high-pitched ringing in his ears. He just kept moving. He just needed to keep moving.
Maybe if he moved fast enough, he’d be able to outrun his past.
“I think he’s heading towards one of his hideouts!” Painter shouted over the PA system to the group of humans, who were moving as fast as they could to keep within range of Sebastian’s SCRAMBLER.
Luckily, the immortal Expendable had already perished from the shock of having their limb partially severed from their body, prompting their regenerative abilities to kick in and revive them good as new. So, they were now running alongside the others instead of slowing everyone down with their dead weight.
“Cool—“ the immortal Expendable panted as they rushed down the corridors. Painter ensuring that the doors behind them were promptly sealed shut in order to hopefully slow down any pursuers. “Keep us appraised of the situation!”
The Painter did not respond, its visage flickering from one hall monitor to the next as the humans did their best to keep up.
“Should-should we be—“ Dog-fucker puffed and wheezed, clearly not cut out for running for such long distances. “WORRIED— about leaving behind- Seb’s kids?!”
“I’m sure they’ll be fine!” Medic responded, easily keeping pace with the group, and the immortal Expendable felt a pang of jealousy at their endurance. “They seem to have their own bag of tricks for surviving this place.”
Little did the group know, the group of 10 fish were doing something that might have resembled their own form of reconnaissance to an outside observer.
Baphomet, the fishlet with the pink tendrils, had remained in the room where the unknown monster was still writhing on the floor in pain. The fishlet had hidden itself on the ceiling, its hook-like claws on its fins allowing it to cling to the wall with relative ease as its large eyes rotated about to keep the rabbit-like monster in sight. All the while, the pink spot on its slightly domed head was glowing faintly. Their slightly barbed pink tendrils along their back were a bit shorter than they were before, like the ends at fallen off.
Dart, the smallest of the fishlets, was shimmying through a vent with Skuttle, the isopod hybrid. Both fishlets had similar pink glowing specks on the ends of their tails as they moved through the ventilation system.
Iggy, the octopus hybrid, was crawling along the ceiling, ducking through similar ventilation systems along with Bubbles, their beaked counterpart. They were following the group, but at a slower pace. Both possessed the same pink marking somewhere along their bodies.
Scorch, the electric eel hybrid (and the only one who had successfully injured the enemy), and Whip, the swift swimmer of the group, (who had yet to do jackshit or anything of note), were keeping close to Chomper— who was trying to gnaw its way through the door in order to take a bite at the monster who had so badly upset Sebastian. They weren’t making any progress.
Beelzebub was the only one quick enough on land to keep up with the humans, and so took it upon itself to follow the bipeds, its long frog-like legs easily aiding it in keeping stride.
Sachiel, loyally, had leapt onto Sebastian’s tail as soon as the mutant sea snake had bolted. Sachiel wasn’t going to lose track of their favorite long boi again.
Sebastian hadn’t spoken as he feverishly clawed open a hidden passageway and ducked through, not bothering to conceal the entrance as he climbed his way through the maintenance shaft. His serpentine body coiling easily over and around the various metal pipes trailing up the walls and floor as he slithered into the secluded area that he had made into one of his hideouts.
His breathing was coming in ragged gasps, he sounded like a wild animal, heaving and panting. Slick foam had formed at the corners of his mouth, his eyes dim and the light of his esca flickering with distress as his arms went slack, and the Painter had to use their own limbs to cling to Sebastian’s coat as the fishman crawled further into the room, using all three of his arms to keep himself upright.
He felt like he had been shot, badly. Had he been shot? No.. no.. something else was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.
Zerum….
Sebastian let out a wailing scream, the sound terrifyingly inhuman as it rattled the walls and echoed through the maintenance tunnel— yet it was so unmistakably full of grief and rage.
What had Urbanshade done to her?! Why? How?! Was it even her, or was it some fucked up facsimile they created to taunt him?
Sebastian was dragging himself across the floor on all three limbs, the rest of his body slithering and jerking about the room like a caged animal as he snarled and raged within his own mind, completely oblivious to Painter still hanging onto to his chest, the AI rendered mute out of fear. It had never seen Sebastian behave like this before— like some sort of feral beast devoid of rational thought.
Sachiel was there, equally as disturbed as it silently disembarked from Sebastian’s tail and hid itself beneath a table. Watching pensively as the fishman lost his mind.
Eventually, the fervor of the mutant sea snake’s mental breakdown ebbed as Sebastian’s movements slowed, his tail coiling close as he breathed heavily, his face pressed against a wall as he clenched his eyes shut. His head was pounding painfully, his entire body trembling. He wondered distantly if he somehow got nicked by one of Zerum’s venomous claws, or if he was simply having that bad of a reaction upon realizing that she… that she was… she had been…
All at once, Sebastian’s body went limp and Painter let out a startled beep as it just barely managed to avoid getting crushed as the mutant fishman collapsed. The AI repositioned itself at a safer distance from Sebastian’s limp form, their internal fans whirring with anxiety as they watched to make sure he was still breathing.
Painter had no idea what to make of Sebastian’s reaction towards the unknown monster. It hadn’t even touched him this time! Was it psychic, or have some sort of mind blasting powers like Eyefestation? Painter didn’t know, and for once it hoped that the humans would hurry up— the AI didn’t think it could deal with this alone.
“Mr. Solace….”
Sebastian was dreaming again. He had to be. Otherwise, why would this pompous green asshat be here.
He was in a darkened room, sitting before a worn wooden desk, his esca’s light barely casting enough illumination for him to see the tabletop. On the other side of the desk, he saw the green eyes of Mr. Lopee gazing back at him, the old man’s eyes were hooded with pity, or perhaps vague amusement. Sebastian couldn’t tell with how the rest of him was completely obscured by darkness.
“I believe, this, will bring you some, needed clarity to the… situation, you now find yourself in.”
A folder slid onto the table, the bold red letters displaying the word: CONFIDENTIAL were clearly visible, along with a small photo of woman with lagomorph characteristics. She was smiling in the photo, her hair done-up with a pink flower hairclip, her long ears slightly cocked as though she were listening to something.
Sebastian felt his heart clench painfully.
Wordlessly, he reached a trembling hand over, his clawed hand nearly large enough to encompass the entire document as he slowly used one claw to flip the file open.
The document read as follows:
The Siren
Z-014 - Codename: “The Siren”, real name “Zerum Solace”, is a genetically modified humanoid possessing extremely lethal capabilities needed in order to track and take out her assigned target. Z-014 is designed for the specific purpose of terminating dangerous individuals, such as Z-13.
Z-014 was brought into Hadal Blacksite after Urbanshade operatives caught her trespassing on company grounds. It was later determined that Z-014 could not be allowed to leave after interrogation efforts revealed that Z-014 had been spying on Urbanshade for over a decade following the detainment of Z-13. Z-014 stated that she never believed her husband was a killer and claimed that the public announcement of his execution was “bogus” as she had witnessed Urbanshade operatives entering the prison he was being held at before leaving with Z-13 in a conspicuous black truck after his supposed execution date.
There were discussions on what to do with Z-014, and the suggestion of simply disposing of her and covering up any legal fees was more than once brought up. But Mr. Shade proposed a more practical use for Z-014.
While Z-13 had yet to display any indication of his eventual treachery and subsequent sabotage of Hadal Blacksite, Mr. Shade had confessed that he would feel safer if there was a backup plan in place if Z-13 ever went rogue, as the transformations which occurred during the experiments had likely caused unpredictable changes to Z-13 mental state and it was unknown as to when he might act against Urbanshade.
When the lockdown incident started, “The Siren” was still in development, being kept in a stasis pod deep in Hadal Blacksite’s laboratories.
Z-014 has been imbued with several DNA strands from ___________ , _________, Valcula Void-Mass, and Lammelse species, as well as possessing a specialized augment chip installed by her left temple which compels her to hunt down and kill Z-13.
Due to the interference caused by Hadal Blacksite's compromised security mainframe, the Hadal Devision was unable to send the activation codes that would release Z-014 from her stasis. However, a recent development following the latest attempt to manually remove Z-779’s influence from Hadal Blacksite’s mainframe has allowed HQ partial connection over systems previously blocked. One of these connections allowed the transmission of the activation command for Z-014.
All Personnel are advised to avoid Z-014 if spotted, whilst Z-014 is not programmed to be hostile towards humans, there may be unintended behavior if there are any attempts to interact or impede her.
…..
“This…. really…. fucking sucks.” Sebastian muttered numbly.
“Indeed,” Mr. Lopee said, his tone sounding genuinely sorry despite his somewhat stilted way of speaking. “You have, my, deepest sympathies, Mr. Solace. No man should… ever.. have to deal with what you are, going through.”
Sebastian didn’t respond, the tip of his claw tracing the picture of Zerum’s smiling face.
“There is, still time, Mr. Solace.” Mr. Lopee spoke up after a moment and the document slid off of the table and out of Sebastian’s grasp. There was a sound like an old rickety chair creaking as Mr. Lopee leaned forward, his emerald eyes gleaming in the darkness. “If you obtain the, Crystal, we may be able to…. Help each other.”
Sebastian didn’t say anything, he felt numb. Devoid of all emotion. What could he even say? Cynicism scoffed at the notion that helping Mr. Lopee would do any good. But hope…
Hope dared to flicker in the depths of Sebastian’s cold heart, and that felt almost worse...
Sebastian’s eyes slowly opened, vision blurry and eyes stinging with dried tears.
He was curled up in a nest made up of his own body, face smooshed against the crook of one coil, the metal of one of his belt’s clips digging rather uncomfortably into his cheek as he groggily lifted his head. He idly wiped away the dampness still clinging to his face, his ears twitching as he heard movement in the room and then something cold brushing against him.
He twitched and the contact immediately retreated, before he became aware of the sound of whirring fans and he relaxed as he turned to look at the Painter.
Painter was sitting beside him, legs tucked close to its body, monitor displaying a deeply distressed frown as the AI waited in tense silence.
Sebastian realized then that the room they were in was rather dark, and that he was probably looming rather ominously over the little computer, who very much did not posses night vision and the light emanating from its monitor only served to cast the mutant sea snake in harsh shadows.
With a small effort of will, Sebastian’s lure flickered on, illuminating his very tired and crusty features as he rested his head on one hand.
Immediately, Painter’s expression flickered to a small yet hopeful smile. “Hey…”
“Hey,” Sebastian responded with a weary grin.
“You look like shit,” Painter pointed out.
“Yeah,” Sebastian sighed, his coils shifting as he laid back down. “I feel like shit, too.” He huffed a startled breath when Sachiel’s golden whiskers tickled at his face, he hadn’t even realized the fish had been perched atop his tail until the fish had moved to harass him face to face.
“The humans are waiting outside in the hallway,” Painter informed. “I kinda told them all to scram when they caught up and found us, in case you woke up and were… um…” It didn’t need to finish the sentence.
“Thanks, Painter.” Sebastian said, genuinely. He wasn’t sure if he would’ve been able to handle waking up to all the humans staring at him and bombarding him with questions right away. “I suppose they’re eager to barge in here and start asking me what the fuck just happened.”
“Yep,” Painter affirmed with a simulated nod.
“Best not keep them waiting then,” Sebastian sighed as he straightened up, taking a moment to fuss with his hair and such to ensure that he at least gave off a semblance of having tried to look put together.
Painter beeped and their monitor flickered as they accessed the PA system, informing the humans that Sebastian was ready to talk.
It didn’t take long, with the immortal Expendable charging straight into the hideout whilst the other humans were more civil about their entry.
The immortal Expendable predictably tripped and face planted into the floor, Sebastian having swiftly brought his tailfin around upon seeing their swiftly approaching figure and catching them in the legs so that instead of glomping him— they glomped the floor, with their face.
This did not deter the immortal Expendable, as they immediately popped up from the floor. “ARE YOU OKAY?!” They shouted, ignoring the blood spilling onto the front of their uniform from what was likely a broken nose.
Where was their face mask?
Sebastian decided to ignore the oddity and simply fell back on his usual air of snarkiness, despite feeling anything but okay. “I’m about as alright as anyone would be after seeing their horribly transfigured wife try to kill them.”
Everyone in the room was silent with shock. Painter was equally as surprised, staring up at Sebastian with wide eyes.
“Hhebebhmm…” The immortal Expendable swayed on their feet, sounding lightheaded. “Your… your what?”
And so, Sebastian told them the identity of the unknown monster.
He didn’t tell them everything of course. He didn’t dare mention the fact that he received this knowledge from an eldritch being who had infiltrated his mind while he was unconscious. He just spun a half-truth half-lie, informing the group that they were dealing with an assassin who was genetically modified for the sole purpose of killing him— the way he worded it implied that he already knew about the existence of the assassin, (a lie), but had only just found out that the assassin was his wife who had been twisted by Urbanshade’s experiments (true).
“Man, that’s fucked up,” Punch-out said with a shake of her head. ”Fuck Urbanshade.”
Sebastian didn’t respond, looking down at the floor, eyes dim. His mind kept trying to delve into dark places. Zerum had been searching for him all this time, and then proceeded to suffer at Hadal Blacksite for months prior to the lockdown, and he hadn’t known. After having his body irreparably changed by the experiments, Sebastian had given up any hope of ever returning to his past life. Yet Zerum hadn’t… she’d never stopped trying… she never gave up hope that she would find him... and then she paid for it in the worst way possible.
Sebastian never felt more self-loathing than he did at that very moment.
“So… you’re telling me…” the immortal Expendable’s voice was odd, their distorted face seeming to warp strangely. “You… Are M̵͙͐ Á̷͓̖ R̵̮̟͋̕ R̴͔̝͆̓ I̸̘͎̽͘ Ẽ̸̜ D̵͕̾̈́!?"
They bellowed that last word with such force, such utter vehemence and outrage that everyone in the room flinched. Painter’s monitor flickered as it briefly glitched out. Even Sebastian was snapped out of his funk as his eyes focused on the rippling distortions running across the Expendable’s face; he felt a sudden sense of foreboding in the air.
“YOU CAN’t— That’s not fair! You’re not supposed to be MARRIED!” The immortal Expendable shouted with an angry stomp. “That’s not how this goes! That’s— That—Thatthatthat— WHo the hell said you could be— ZERUM! You B̶̢͒͝Í̵͈̆Ṱ̸̀͂C̶̜̿́Ḧ̶̼̳́!̴̜̞̍ How dare you—!!!“
“Woah, what the fuck,” Dog-fucker raised his hands as he took several steps back. “Is anyone else hearing that weird buzzing sound???”
“Dude, calm down!” Medic tried to put a hand on the immortal Expendable’s shoulder, but they jerked away as strange energy rippled across the anomalous human.
“I’LL FUCKING KILL HER! KILL HER! KILL HER KIĽ̵̞͙L̸̝̥͐ ̴͕̱̾H̵̺͗Ë̴͈͕́̽R̵̯̔K̴̫̈̎I̴̢̹͗́L̴̫̝̇L̵̩̲̃̓ ̴͙̿́H̷͇͔̐E̴̯͛͊Ŗ̷̤͂ ̸̫̄̚K̷͕̒Ì̶̙́L̸͔͍̈́̃L̸̬͛ ̵̧̋̕K̸͚͚̚I̵͓̾L̷̩̇L̴̮͒̈́ ̵͔̈́H̸̢̻͗Ḛ̸̅̿Ř̵͉͙̄!̶̡̖̾!̴̦̞̈̈!̴̻͔̐”̷͙̜̆̈́ The immortal Expendable shrieked, their voice devolving into a crescendo of ungodly static.
For the first time since Sebastian met the immortal human, he felt afraid of them. It was like he was hearing the voices of thousands of people spitting vitriol and hatred, and it was all directed towards his wife for daring to exist.
Suddenly, the immortal Expendable’s ranting was cut off as Punch-out walked over and proceeded to do what she did best and punch them in the gut.
“Quit it with your freaky ass satanic bullshit! You need to sit yo ass down and take a chill-pill, my dude.” She stated with finality as the immortal Expendable doubled over with a pained wheeze. “ I know a jealous rat when I smell one! And our fishman deserves better than to hear you cussing out his damn wife!”
Sebastian stared, mouth slightly agape. If he wasn’t so adverse to touch he might have hugged the Punch-out Expendable, or at least given her a high-five.
Why was his life like this? Everything was so absolutely fucked in so many terrible and horrible ways, and yet, he couldn’t help but laugh.
It started as a shaking of his shoulders as he tried to stifle his chuckles, then it became full blown laughter, then an uproarious cackle as he held onto his sides and laughed and laughed and laughed. Tears were in his eyes, he just couldn’t stop laughing at the absurdity of it all!
“Um, Sebastian?” Chief asked warily as the mutant sea snake continued to cackle hysterically. “You alright?”
“This shit—“ Sebastian barely managed between breaths as his laughter started to break down. “—is such ass. Here I am, a goddamn mutant freak of nature in a goddamned facility over twenty-two kilometers below the ocean’s surface— dealing with untold horrors beyond human comprehension and now on top of all of that, I find out that my WIFE has been inflicted with the same torture that I had endured, except its worse because she’s being forced to kill me—“ His voice broke, his laughter having long since devolved into wretched sobbing. “And yet— AND YET! Somehow, this motherfucking undying piece of shit Expendable has the audacity to be jealous! Outraged and jealous that yes! Once upon a fucking time— I was a normal guy with a normal fucking life with a loving wife and I was happy until SHIT HIT THE FAN AND URBANSHADE SWOOPED IN AND FUCKED ME!”
It was truly hilarious.
“I think.. all of you should go.” Painter said quietly to the humans, and when the immortal Expendable looked as though they were about to say something— Painter’s tone turned harsh. “Especially you, moron.”
Wordlessly, the humans walked out, leaving Sebastian to wallow in his grief whilst Painter and Sachiel did their best to support him.