12-20-2006, 07:31 AM
She was dead.
Paige was now nothing more than another anonymous face on the list of casualties amassed during the tenure of the war. Her once beautiful visage had been ruined with a solitary round lucky enough to find its mark. Seventeen had been prepared to avenge her demise?prepared even so to sacrifice himself to the horde of soldiers who had taken Hyperton.
After all, Paige?s death had left the android without so much as a single reason to persevere. Without her, Seventeen was already dead, and he knew that fact all too well. The machine-hybrid exited a whirl of lights and collapsed in the center of an evacuated room. He was surrounded by the broken, bloodied forms of his fallen brothers-in-arms?their deaths a harbinger of what the rest of the battle would entail.
The Commander of the Outcasts slammed his fists down onto the unforgiving stone floor of the dark chamber and let out a silent dirge. Seventeen had failed not only to defend the soldiers who were entrusted to his care, but he had also letdown the woman with whom he loved more than anything. Her death was a symbol of his inability to function on even the most simplistic of scales.
The onyx-haired warrior pushed off the ground and wrenched his handgun from its holster next to his hip. The android lifted the gun slowly and placed it against the bottom of his chin?his index finger trembling as it dangled above the trigger. One bullet was the only thing that stood between Seventeen and freedom but was he being selfish? Had he not lectured Violet that suicide was not an option many moons prior?
?He?s in here!? The scream was that of a soldier marching under the blue colors of the Dante Forces. The machine-hybrid listened as the stampeding of boots grew closer, and the room was filled with a group of rifle-toting warriors. Seventeen let out a sigh as he closed his eyes and continued to wrestle with the impeding reality. Up until his bout with Minoshia, the android had maintained a level head and clear conscious.
The death of the konat had sent the cyborg spiraling into the darkest depths of his being?a realm where nothing made sense and his mind was nothing more than the shattered remnants of a mirror. No matter how hard Seventeen tried to piece together the fragments of his psyche, he would succeed only in cutting himself and shifting the images in new and uncomforting ways.
Seventeen could try as hard as he wanted to, but his efforts only managed to drive him mad. The machine-hybrid let out a soft lamentation as he tried to escape that cold dark place. He knew in his heart that he no doubt lacked the courage and strength to endure for much longer, so what was keeping him from pulling the trigger? The android could hear the soldiers behind him barking orders at him. Time slowed to a crawl as the atmosphere in the room reached a boiling point.
A single gunshot shattered everything, and a moment later, a body collapsed onto the blood-stained floorboards. Smoke wafted through the air?seeping from the barrel of Seventeen?s outstretched gun. For the moment, the onyx-haired warrior had escaped his personal hell. Without so much as a warning, the android fired upon the remaining soldiers.
The warriors tried to react to the impromptu onslaught, but the majority of them were silenced before they could so much as lift their rifles in protest. Those unlucky few who managed to counterattack the attack met their fate a heartbeat later?their fates sealed with a well-placed round sent barreling through their foreheads. A few bullets were squeezed off by one of the lucky soldiers, but the lethal stream of steel was diverted upward the moment the man was sent to his grave.
In a matter of fleeting beats, the group was nothing more than another pile of corpses to adorn the ensanguined halls and rooms of Hyperton Fortress. After a pause, Seventeen discarded the elegant handgun upon realization that its magazine was spent. Although he knew he was potentially clamoring for a lost cause, the android would be hard-pressed if he was going to allow himself to leave without verifying the safety of his remaining allies.
?I will not fail you,? Seventeen whispered, and with what little stability he had garnered, he exited the chamber in a swirl of light particles. Somewhere in the depths of the dilapidated fortress was the android?s best friend, and the Commander of the Outcasts would not be able to sleep at night unless he knew that he hadn?t failed Super Buu.
Paige was now nothing more than another anonymous face on the list of casualties amassed during the tenure of the war. Her once beautiful visage had been ruined with a solitary round lucky enough to find its mark. Seventeen had been prepared to avenge her demise?prepared even so to sacrifice himself to the horde of soldiers who had taken Hyperton.
After all, Paige?s death had left the android without so much as a single reason to persevere. Without her, Seventeen was already dead, and he knew that fact all too well. The machine-hybrid exited a whirl of lights and collapsed in the center of an evacuated room. He was surrounded by the broken, bloodied forms of his fallen brothers-in-arms?their deaths a harbinger of what the rest of the battle would entail.
The Commander of the Outcasts slammed his fists down onto the unforgiving stone floor of the dark chamber and let out a silent dirge. Seventeen had failed not only to defend the soldiers who were entrusted to his care, but he had also letdown the woman with whom he loved more than anything. Her death was a symbol of his inability to function on even the most simplistic of scales.
The onyx-haired warrior pushed off the ground and wrenched his handgun from its holster next to his hip. The android lifted the gun slowly and placed it against the bottom of his chin?his index finger trembling as it dangled above the trigger. One bullet was the only thing that stood between Seventeen and freedom but was he being selfish? Had he not lectured Violet that suicide was not an option many moons prior?
?He?s in here!? The scream was that of a soldier marching under the blue colors of the Dante Forces. The machine-hybrid listened as the stampeding of boots grew closer, and the room was filled with a group of rifle-toting warriors. Seventeen let out a sigh as he closed his eyes and continued to wrestle with the impeding reality. Up until his bout with Minoshia, the android had maintained a level head and clear conscious.
The death of the konat had sent the cyborg spiraling into the darkest depths of his being?a realm where nothing made sense and his mind was nothing more than the shattered remnants of a mirror. No matter how hard Seventeen tried to piece together the fragments of his psyche, he would succeed only in cutting himself and shifting the images in new and uncomforting ways.
Seventeen could try as hard as he wanted to, but his efforts only managed to drive him mad. The machine-hybrid let out a soft lamentation as he tried to escape that cold dark place. He knew in his heart that he no doubt lacked the courage and strength to endure for much longer, so what was keeping him from pulling the trigger? The android could hear the soldiers behind him barking orders at him. Time slowed to a crawl as the atmosphere in the room reached a boiling point.
A single gunshot shattered everything, and a moment later, a body collapsed onto the blood-stained floorboards. Smoke wafted through the air?seeping from the barrel of Seventeen?s outstretched gun. For the moment, the onyx-haired warrior had escaped his personal hell. Without so much as a warning, the android fired upon the remaining soldiers.
The warriors tried to react to the impromptu onslaught, but the majority of them were silenced before they could so much as lift their rifles in protest. Those unlucky few who managed to counterattack the attack met their fate a heartbeat later?their fates sealed with a well-placed round sent barreling through their foreheads. A few bullets were squeezed off by one of the lucky soldiers, but the lethal stream of steel was diverted upward the moment the man was sent to his grave.
In a matter of fleeting beats, the group was nothing more than another pile of corpses to adorn the ensanguined halls and rooms of Hyperton Fortress. After a pause, Seventeen discarded the elegant handgun upon realization that its magazine was spent. Although he knew he was potentially clamoring for a lost cause, the android would be hard-pressed if he was going to allow himself to leave without verifying the safety of his remaining allies.
?I will not fail you,? Seventeen whispered, and with what little stability he had garnered, he exited the chamber in a swirl of light particles. Somewhere in the depths of the dilapidated fortress was the android?s best friend, and the Commander of the Outcasts would not be able to sleep at night unless he knew that he hadn?t failed Super Buu.
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