Doctor Who: Panic Moon Ch. 14

'Hel-lo!' The figure blocking the doorway drawled, each syllable lengthened unnaturally. He grinned widely, an expression that chilled Kanaria to the bone; no matter how wide he smiled, his eyes remained cold, deep and abyssal. A dead man's gaze, coupled to a living one's rictus grin. It was the kind of smile that let you see every last tooth, the kind that almost broke the jaw with the force of it. 'I've been-'

Tsugi grabbed Kana's shoulder and spun her around, shoving her in the opposite direction with more strength than she knew he possessed. She had seen the briefest glimpse of utter, horrified recognition on his face, and the words, 'Kana, run!' break from his throat in desperate tones. And then, the dull thud of something sharply connecting with a skull.

'How boring, he recognized me...' The blond stranger ran the hilt of his knife along his forehead, collecting the errant strand of hair that had fallen out of place when he had hit Tsugi, returning to composure in the time it took for the androgynous youth to slump to the floor. 'Don't run, Kana. There'd be no point, and besides...'

'I've been wanting to see you for a long time.'

*****************

'Oh, god!' Ren roared, halfway through the execution of a flawless spinning kick that sent the nearest soldier buckling under the weight of several hundred kilos of biomechanical body armor. 'I'd forgotten how good this feels!'

The rest of the squad continued to fire upon her, but she shrugged off the bullets as though they were gnats. The tide was changing, slowly but surely, as the Guardian, Emperor Sagara's attack dog, went from room to room, effortlessly repelling the invaders as brutally as she knew how. Ren was a combat pragmatist; she knew the key here wasn't merely to kick these fools from her home, it was to beat them down so brutally, and so permanently that they didn't dare stay and longer than it took to run screaming. And she needed to ensure they'd be too frightened, damaged or, ideally, both to ever think about returning.

Besides, the longer they stuck around, the greater the chance that one of them she hadn't gotten to yet found one of her friends and hurt them. She wouldn't allow that.

'Better than sex, I swear!' She growled, voice echoing horribly from her helmet's speakers. She kept advancing, slowly but steadily, as it became increasingly clear that, whatever these mercenaries had been paid, they no longer thought it was enough, for the odds they had been given. They started to run.

'That's right, run away, you fucking lightweights!' Ren bellowed, sounding like the devil herself. 'You're staying the night in Hell's Hotel, and the Big, Bad, motherfucking Wolf is here to eat you up!'

[Ren, you're so frightening!]

Shichi's voice crowed in her head, making her laugh. Internally, she ran through her map of the compound, quickly reaching the conclusion that the path these walking targets were running down would very quickly take them to the Cell Hub, and by extension Amy and Christina. It was bad enough that she didn't know where her sisters or her friends were... if the girls were hurt under her watch, she'd never hear the end of it from Sander.

Lucky she knew just how strong those cell walls were...

'Shichi, change ammunition,' She breathed to her helmet microphone.

[Operator command acknowledged. What caliber?]

'Remote frag rounds, I think. And pull up my P-in-P HUD, would you?'

[Command acknowledged. Executing!]

There were a series of muted clicks from her gauntlets as barrels shifted and changed, and then Ren raised her arms, ready to fire. A separate, tiny window appeared in the corner of her eye, effectively her "bullet-cam."

'Tick tock goes the clock, motherfuckers,' Ren grinned, opening fire. Four rounds left the guns inset in her forearms, spinning down the center of the corridor and out into the open space, before Ren cried out, 'Boom for the boom god!'

Each round in turn exploded, sending red hot shrapnel careening off in every direction, embedding itself into every soldier. Ren did love a three-hundred sixty degree range of fire. Very soon, the Cell Hub was filled with corpses. Or, at least... softly groaning, bleeding soon-to-be corpses. Ren picked up her pace, heading into the Hub as the last soldier fell, chuckling to herself.

'Too easy!' She grinned, clapping her metal shod hands together. Her jubilation quickly faded as the door to one of the cells slammed open.

'Freeze, bitch!' One final soldier exited Amy's cell, gun in hand. 'Or I blow her head off.'

Ren actually froze, blinking as she took in the scene. There was Amy, naked as the day she was born, wide eyed and terrified as the unnamed soldier held one arm wrapped around her throat, muzzle of his pistol pressed firmly against the side of her head. Inside the cell, she could see Christina and Lysithea, similarly undressed and cowering in one corner.

Ren had no idea why a single soldier had been alone in a room with three naked women, but the prominent bulge in his pants gave a somewhat clinching hint, and she found her eyes narrowing hatefully despite the fact that he couldn't possibly see it through her visor. She had been afraid something like this might happen...

'Take of that helmet, half breed!' The soldier shouted. 'Let's get a good look at you, see if you're good enough to join us in here, huh?'

Ren's frown only deepened, as she added stupid to this asshole's list of sins. Even though he was going to die very soon, she found herself unable to laugh. 'Shichi, what are my energy reserves looking like?' She said privately to her inner passenger.

[Sixty-three percent, Ren. Shall I charge the optical aperture?]

'Go for it.'

[Executing!]

Out loud, she yelled, 'Amy, baby, I want you to stand as still as you can. Hey, fuckwit!'

The soldier blinked, resettling the barrel of his gun against the trembling Amy's forehead, who for her part nodded slightly, aware that Ren was not using nicknames anymore. She meant business, which fortunately the soldier didn't pick up on, 'I said remove your helmet, Half!'

'My name's not Half, fucker,' Ren growled, maintaining eye contact through her helmet as a tiny readout in the corner of her vision counted up to one-hundred percent. 'And it's not bitch, or half breed either.'

[Weapon charged!]

'My name is Ren Andrei Syfte!' She bellowed. 'And you will fear my LASERFACE!'

'Oh, son of a bi-' Was all the soldier could get out, as a tiny pinprick of red light swelled in the center of the hardsuit's faceplate, growing into an almighty crimson glow before blasting out in a solid beam, like the wrath of god. It continued forward, the scorching heat of it radiating over Amy's bare shoulder as it slammed into the soldier behind her with pinpoint accuracy. And a sizzling noise.

It left a deep imprint into the wall behind him, scorched black.

What was left of the soldier fell to the floor, cauterized to the point where it didn't even bleed. Then Ren opened up her helmet, visor sliding back into the neck of her armor to allow fresh air onto her face for the first time. She sighed, shoulders unknotting; her hardsuit was an amazing bit of tech, but it got really hot, really fast.

'Ren?!'

The Half turned, armor whirring mechanically, 'Oh! Hi, San-chan!'

'Ren, what the fuck?' Mara squealed, running up to her sister. 'When did you become Iron Man?'

'Wow can explanations ever come later!' Ren rolled her eyes, stepping over the crispy corpse and into the cell. 'Ly-chi, Christina, we all okay?'

'Yes, we're fine,' Lysithea stood, causing Sander's decidedly male gaze to focus on certain areas in quick succession, before he aimed his eyes at the farthest wall and kept them glued there, sensing that it was only a matter of time before his girlfriend noticed. 'He wasn't in here for very long.'

'Well, that's a relief,' Sander turned his gaze to Amy, expression softening as he saw her frantically trying to wipe a mix of blood and ash from her neck. He leaned in to whisper to her, 'Hey, you okay?'

'No...' Amy breathed, staring at her blood soaked palm. 'No I'm damn well not.'

'Well shit, Amy... If it were up to me we wouldn't be under attack either,' Sander frowned, standing. 'Ly, can you stay here with the girls and try to get in contact with Dulsie? We haven't seen her and we'd sort of like her around, yeah?'

'Certainly, Sander.'

'...And... Put on some clothes, okay?' Sander actually blushed. For whatever reason Amy was fine, Christina was A-okay, but seeing Lysithea naked was somehow wrong. She was a friend, and this was way too close.

'Oh, I dunno, I'm kind of enjoying it...' Ren gave a cocky grin. Her eyes trailed Lysithea's body conspicuously.

'I'll get dressed, Sander,' Lysithea raised an eyebrow at Ren as she spoke.

'And Ren... I don't know what exactly is up with you, here,' Sander eyed her. 'But can you clear these assholes out of here? Mara and I will circle around to the exterior doors and try to get outside. I figure that's where Kana and Tsugi would go, since they're not fighting people.'

'And you are?' Ren deadpanned. Sander noted she was bouncing on the soles of her feet, as though her movements were only being restricted through intense concentration.

'I get what you're saying, but we did get guns,' Sander hefted his rifle onto his shoulder demonstratively. 'Kana and Tsugi? Not the same. They're technicians. And they'll head outside, so we will too. We need to know where everyone is, is what I'm saying.'

'Right, right,' Ren nodded. 'Well, give me a little while and I'll make sure these fools will bother us not, no problem. But... the only exterior doors near here are the ones leading to-' She paused, saw Sander's strangled expression. She finished soberly, 'Leading to that place you told us never to go.'

'I know. And I'll just have to deal with that. This is no time for sentimentality, so let's get to work,' Sander said.

'Right. And for god's sake, stay safe and don't get caught,' Mara frowned. 'We don't need to be giving these guys any more hostages. If it wasn't for Ren, this situation would have turned out pretty fucking bad.'

'Straight up,' Ren nodded, turning. Her helmet fell back down over her face, 'Well, I'm off to kick some ass until it shatters. Later, folks.'

'When she's right, she's right,' Sander shrugged, gripping his rifle tightly. 'Let's move.'

***************

Tsugi awoke hazily, clutching at his throbbing head where he had been hit. His vision cleared slowly, as he took inventory of his physical being: Head? Hurting. Arms? All present and accounted for. Legs? Laying in something warm.

... Wait, what?

He rubbed at his eyes to clear them, swearing under his breath the entire time, his curses increasing in volume and vitriol as he floated back into full consciousness. That fucking, psychopathic bastard... And here Tsugi had thought he'd never have to see that son of a bitch who'd hit him after Uo. And...

Oh shit, Kana!

Tsugi's curses fell away completely as he finally caught sight of what was in front of him. He made a tiny, horrified noise in the back of his throat.

*******************

'What are you going to do, Sander?' Mara asked quietly as the two of them travelled as stealthily as possible down the corridors to their objective. 'I mean, the only way out is through where you left her, isn't it?'

'Yes, it is,' Sander said, trying hard to keep any inflection from his voice. Damn it, don't fall apart now...

'I'm sorry it had to come to this. I know you didn't want anyone else visiting her except you.'

'Not your fault,' His eyes prickled dangerously at the mere thought of what was ahead. Even after so long, he got so weak at certain thoughts, it was pathetic. 'It's nobody's fault except the fucker who started all this.'

'I know. And I really thought I'd be rid of him after what we did to him last time. I mean, the guy never was one for petty revenge crap like this, he was always so-' Mara's eyes widened as she caught sight of the scene by the door, so close to their goal. Her heart almost stopped in her chest, and she shrieked, 'Kanaria!'

She flew ahead, any notions of stealth instantly forgotten and replaced with a clawing fear and grief that made everything else pale in comparison to what lay ahead. She reached them first, with Sander in close pursuit, the older man swearing out loud, unthinking, undirected outbursts of emotion.

'Y-you have to help her...' Ashen faced, Tsugi's voice barely rose above a whisper as his wide, unseeing eyes went first to Sander, then Mara. 'She's gonna die...'

In his trembling arms, Kanaria was limp and unresponsive, her shirt and the floor beneath her stained crimson. One of Tsugi's hands was pressing a cloth down against her neck, from which fresh gouts of blood could be seen seeping out onto the floor in time with what seemed to be a weak heartbeat, at best.

'Fuck...' Sander's hands shook, the rifle clattering forgotten to the ground. 'Fuck...'

'He... He had a knife, and he-' Tsugi stopped, apparently incapable of saying more. Not that he really needed to; the way Mara clasped her sister to her, tears welling in her eyes, showed that she understood completely.

'Well, it's about time!' Suddenly, the speaker system crackled to life, a horrifically familiar voice threading over the compound's speaker's to send a chill down Mara's spine. 'I was beginning to think you wouldn't get here while the little gift I left you was still alive, Sander. This door is wired for sound, so tell me, do you like her? Isn't she beautiful, like that?'

'You,' Sander snarled, fists clenching as his guilty, red rage found a target. 'I'm going to kill you, you-'

'Oh, shut up, Sander. I've waited such a long time to hear your voice again, the least you could do for me is say the right words,' The voice was oddly stilted, as though it couldn't quite match the emotional inflection to the words he was saying. 'After all, I love you so.'

Sander blinked. Honestly? That wasn't what he had been expecting.

'Now, first question: where am I? That should be entirely obvious. I'm through the door in front of you, and I'm leaning against a rather nice headstone, Sander my dear,' Sander could feel the ugly smile in the words. 'Second question: what do I want? Easy, I want you, Sander. By now you have to know who I am, and what I really want right now is to hear you say my name...'

Sander's entire body wound tight as a spring, face twisting as his eyes went from Kana's body, slowly bleeding out, to the panicked faces of his friend and girlfriend. His mouth opened, almost automatically:

'Walker.'

******************

Ren had stopped, too. Frozen in place as the intruder's message played out over the entire building at once. The message itself was drowned out, after the first few sentences, by the sound of metal screeching against metal as her gauntleted fingertips ground against armored palms. She literally shook, quivering with the kind of apocalyptic fury that only Ren could muster.

Him him him him him him him HIM!

Her face was obscured by her visor, but it was warped into such an expression of pure, animal hate, that it could almost bore through the armored helmet through sheer force of will. It was lucky she was alone; the mess her violent outburst could have produced would have been impossible to clean up. She said one word, spoken in a growl, the kind that tiger's give just before delivering the killing blow:

'Walker!'

Inside her head, Ren was just barely cognizant of Shichi speaking, as her organic armor shifted around her:

[Operator mental state reaching level Alpha. Pattern confirmed. Releasing limiters, approved for Inverse Mode. Initiating Berserker Burn.]

To be continued...