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Crossroads of Fate - Continuation Chapter
Posted By: Singh<a_s_d4@hotmail.com>
Date: 4 October 2006, 3:43 pm
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What did death tell her? What lies did she hear, that brought about such a decision? John thought to himself, as he looked at Jin's body and face. He studied her; as if the woman's form was a great mystery to him…and in a sense, she was. Wordlessly, John got up, glancing first at Kelly, and then towards the lift where the Elite had gone down. He shook his head sadly.
"What now?" Kelly asked. John didn't turn as he replied, calmly.
"Death will pay for this. We go the bridge and end it."
His tone was even and calm; yet it had a dangerous edge to it. Kelly didn't seemed to be perturbed by this, however, as she calmly glanced towards the corridor they had come from, before looking back at John. Her gaze was clearly intent, even behind the visor.
"What of the things she said?"
Kelly asked, nodding towards Jin.
"Lies. Death is determined to get to me, regardless of the cost…even if it means taking anyone else first."
Kelly didn't seem convinced by this reply, however. She looked at John, tilting her head to the side as if she was trying to see past him.
"Why would Death of all things, need to lie?"
John just shrugged. He didn't have the answers here, and even if he did, he was in no mood to give them. He didn't consider much of what Jin said; especially after what the Gravemind had told him earlier about Death. To him, it was just more delays…more ways to slow him down from his goal, his objectives, and to save humanity. John remembered, however, of how Dr. Halsey had warned him about being too dedicated to Earth and his duty; to forget about the individual soldiers he had fought with…to forget that he was still human. But the things at stake here and now…being human simply took a back seat when one's entire species was being threatened. It was too much for just the rant of an obviously insane woman to try and stop him.
"I don't know. You heard her, Kelly. She was clearly insane…she couldn't even tell us of what Death warned – if only to make sure it doesn't happen." John replied, turning away from Jin. Kelly only looked at Jin for a moment, again her head tilted to one side as she examined the dead body. Kelly stood there for a long moment. Unmoving, unwavering as John reached, and then walked past her towards the elevator.
"She didn't seem very insane to me."
The reply was low, and Kelly's body barely moved. However, as John glanced back, he could see and recognize that she was uneasy – possibly upset about this. Her tone betrayed nothing, but her body language; the way her fingers seemed to twitch almost…it told John all he needed to know. He turned around completely to face Kelly as he asked
"Is there a problem, Kelly?"
Kelly looked at John for a long moment, as if considering what to say. She clenched her fist once…but then let it go, and shook her head.
"No."
It was a simple word, and nobody else would have been able to pick out anything wrong about it. But Kelly's tone alone sent alarm bells ringing in John's mind.
"No, Kelly…if you have something on your mind, speak it."
Kelly looked at him strangely. For a long moment, a silence hung over the two SPARTANs and the corridor. It was uncomfortable…but finally, Kelly broke it as she spoke, slowly.
"I just can't help but have a feeling she was right…"
"About what I have done?"
"No…about you dooming us all."
John just looked at her for a moment, before shaking his head and shrugging. "We'll never know till it happens. If not me, then it'll be the Covenant should they find and activate the Arc. We need to get moving, Kelly."
Kelly paused to look back at Jin's body, before nodding. John breathed an internal sigh of relief. The conflict was hardly over; but for the moment it had died down. He turned around and moved towards the lift. John studied the shaft; thinking of a way to perhaps go up. The flashlight on his helmet came on almost unconsciously, illuminating the far wall. The light revealed a ladder that stretched both up and down the dark shaft. The light faded into blackness as he looked up, indicating that it was a fair climb to get to the top. It would also be a dark, dark climb – something he wanted to avoid, considering his last experience with the ladders.
Still, they had little choice – especially when the only other option was going back right into the middle of the Replicas and that…thing the Elite had fought. John shuddered internally just at the memory of it.
What has Death awaken in it's pursuit…what horrors has it unleashed upon us? John asked himself…only to find no answer. He sighed internally, before nodding to himself. He was about to turn around, when, suddenly, a blast of static hit his radio.
Oh God…oh God no.
Nobody listened to his prayers as just as suddenly, his instrument panel failed; along with all the lights in the room and even his flashlight. They flickered, coming back on for a brief moment, and then going off almost as immediately. The night vision in his goggles failed as well; leaving John completely blind. But his memory served him well as he whirled around, trying to find Kelly.
"Kelly?!" John called out, in hopes of getting a response. However, there was only silence.
"Kelly? Are you there?!" John called out again, but once more his questions were met only with silence. It was pitch black; forcing him to listen carefully. He heard the slight scratching his own metal boot made on the floor; the low, barely audible humm of the ship around him.
It was the last noise, however, that sent chills down his spine.
It was low, and John could barely hear it as it seemed to run away from him. The sound was that of a girl giggling…but it wasn't just any girl, or indeed, Alma, it belonged to a voice he recognized almost instantly.
Cortona?
Suddenly, a light came on in front of him. John took a slight step back backwards, bringing his shotgun up. He had to be careful though, as his feet were already near the edge of the floor, and almost to the elevator shaft. The single light was yellow in color, casting a soft circular spotlight onto the floor which, to John's relief, showed nothing in front of him. Then, for some reason, the light swung wildly from side to side; moving the spotlight with it and casting the area right in front him into shadow as it reached the apex. It swung back down, reaching the center once again…
Only to reveal, for the briefest of moments, the purple and blue figure of Cortona looking right back at him; eye to eye. She didn't say anything, didn't move one bit as the light swung to the other side, once again casting the entire area into shadow as Cortona disappeared.
"Cortona?" John asked, blinking as he slowly lowered his shotgun.
The light swung back; again revealing the area to be empty. He frowned, looking around for any other sign of what was going on. When he looked back, however, the light had slowed such that the illuminated portion now remained directly in front of him; in the middle of which directly stood Alma, looking up at him. John nearly jumped back in fear; but he caught himself in time as he raised his shotgun and opened fire at the little girl. Another blast of static hit his radio as his instincts and fear took over his reactions.
"Die! Die! JUST DIE!" John screamed at the top of his lungs Alma's form disintegrated once more into a pile of ashes. But even as she did so, he continued to fire at the position; the blasts causing a deafening roar throughout the room. The muzzle flash soon died out, however, as John continued to press the trigger, only to be met by a loud click as the shells ran out. Breathing heavily, and just standing there, John was frozen for a minute. Finally, after realizing that Alma was gone, he quickly started to reload the shells.
That was when the spotlight died; plunging him into darkness once more. But John didn't need the light to see himself reload. By the time they came back on, he was ready and looking around for Alma.
But as they did, his surroundings changed completely. John was now in a long, sterile corridor; the corridors made of old-fashioned cement and concrete, as opposed to the exotic metals of the forerunner ship. It wasn't very wide – enough for two men to walk through, at most. Half the corridor was clogged up in places by strange gurneys and trolleys – most of which were half rusted, and simply kept there, as if abandoned.
What caught John's attention most, however, was the blood on the walls…it was there in streaks and splatters – as if someone had been shot, and then had his body dragged across the wall. He looked at these surroundings, and raised the shotgun – half out of fear, half out of knowing what would come next. The only exit here was the door behind him – which he promptly found was locked, and the double set of doors at the other end of the corridor. The doors were a blue color, with a small glass window on either one. John took a few hesitant steps forward; keeping a lookout for Alma.
He continued on, moving the trolleys out of the way as he approached the set of doors. As he came closer, he could hear something from the other side. It was loud; high-pitched…almost as if a child or baby was crying. As he came closer, John recognized it as the distinctive wail of a new-born.
Where am I?
Then, suddenly, a face appeared on one of the windows. John took a step back in surprise as the lights suddenly went off; leaving only that cast from behind the face. John couldn't make out whom the face was; but all he could make out were the words it spoke to him, slowly and surely.
"It is the nature of man to make monsters..."
The light then went off; plunging the entire corridor into darkness. John was about to move when the flow below him gave way. He flailed around, attempting to find something to grab onto to, or slow his descent. John continued to fall for a full second before he finally hit something liquid. The Mjnolnir Armor created a massive splash as it fell right into it. The liquid filled half of the new corridor; while the splash had pretty much stained the ceiling with the liquid. John's flashlight came on suddenly, revealing the surroundings fully. Slowly getting up, he looked around, and then finally down at what he had fallen in.
It was blood. The entire corridor was filled in blood up to his waist. John wanted to move, to climb – to get away from it somehow. Still, he physically controlled himself, and looked around. There were another set of doors just a few feet away from him, past a trolley that was almost completely submerged. John waded his way towards the door, determined to get out of this…to escape somehow. He reached the door, was about to open it, when suddenly, something emerged from the blood right in front of him. A hand burst out from the calm surface, grabbing John's arm as a head and skeletal body emerged just behind it. The force behind the pull was too much for him to resist as the skull came right up to his helmet. It started shifting, changing as John watched on, his body frozen in sheer terror as he looked at the fully formed face in front of him.
The face was smooth, more normal than the rest of the body that looked back at him. What was most shocking, however, was whom the face belonged to. It was not Alma; Cortona –or anyone else John knew for that matter…save for the reflection he had seen in the mirror as a young boy…a face, he hadn't seen since he had first met Dr. Halsey so many years ago…since that faithful toss of the coin. The face spoke to him; the voice slow, barely audible. The tone was that of curiosity, with a touch of sadness to it.
"…and it is the nature of monsters, to destroy their makers. Which one are you…which one will you become?"
John blinked, managing to take a step back as the skeleton suddenly released him. As he opened his eyes, however, another form grabbed his arm at the same spot.
"John! Careful!"
This time he recognized the voice, and his new surroundings. Kelly was holding his hand, supporting and pulling him up. Glancing back, John realized that he was about to fall down the elevator shaft – and probably would have had Kelly not caught him.
"Are you all right? You fazed out for a moment, and about to fall…"
John just shook his head in response and gave a slight sigh. What did he just see? Had it been another of Alma's illusions? What that face had said…it somehow rung true; but John couldn't exactly place from where.
"Did the lights go out by any chance?"
Kelly only shook her head in reply. John nodded. "Then I really don't know. We have to get going…"
With that, he turned around once more, when he noticed something.
His motion tracker blinked once, and then twice. This was almost immediately followed by a loud scratching noise coming from the corridor they had entered from. A large red blip appeared on the tracker…no, not large – massive was the proper definition. John looked back at the corridor…only to see the most disgusting thing he had ever witnessed in his life. The form that crawled through the entrance, in the process taking it all up – was massive, to say the least. It was equally hideous; being nothing more than a mass of flesh and muscle, dragging itself across the floor by latching onto the walls with several tentacles and then pulling itself forwards. Each tentacle had a razor sharp set of spikes that was sharp enough that it left a hole in the wall. The main front of the mass of flesh had a gaping hole, around which lay several rows of razor-sharp teeth. A pair of large, lidless eyes, each as big as John's torso were present next to this; while several other eyes were present along the thing's long form. How long it was, though, John didn't know – it filled up almost the entire corridor behind it.
"Fire in the hole!" Kelly responded, not wasting any time as she lifted up her right, producing two of the grenades she had salvaged from their battle earlier. John took a step backwards and was about to turn around when, suddenly, one of the tentacles detached itself from the wall and with incredible speed wrapped itself around Kelly, pulling her towards it and eliciting a cry of pain from the SPARTAN.
"Kelly!" John shouted, raising the shotgun and opening fire on the Tentacle. The shell connected; tearing it apart and dropping the SPARTAN to the ground. But John could already see that it was too late – the razor sharp spikes had somehow managed to penetrate both the armor and the shields; exposing areas of flesh through which blood now oozed out.
John moved forwards, in a vain attempt to do something – anything to help Kelly. He couldn't loose another SPARTAN – not here, not now.
"Kelly!" He called again, advancing forwards and firing at the same time. The shotgun was having little effect on the creature, save slowing it down a little. But even that hardly did much as it latched onto the walls again, and pulled itself forward till it was almost at Kelly.
Kelly didn't respond, didn't speak, however. Instead, she just looked back at John for a brief moment. The helmet had been broken, revealing some of her blood-torn face and one of her eyes. She looked directly at John, the expression in her eye telling him all he needed to know. As if to iterate her point, she raised her right hand – which still firmly clutched both grenades…their pins removed, and both ticking away to detonation.
"John! Go! Go now!" she shouted once more, before breaking eye contact, and looking at the creature in front of her. John wanted to stay…he wanted to shout, scream at the thing to let her go. He wanted to do something to save her – regardless of what it would do to him. How many other SPARTANS had he seen die similarly; being helpless to do anything?
It was something John placed in the back of his mind as he turned around and made a leap for the ladder. Without wasting time to look back, he began to climb up into the darkness above him. He tried his best not to think of the fact that behind him, the Grenade's countdown time went to zero and a massive explosion filled the entire hallway. He tried not to think of the fact that everything that had been there – Kelly, Jin's body, that creature – was now filled completely with flame.
Most of all, John tried his best to avoid thinking about the fact that he was now alone…and once more the very last SPARTAN left alive in the UNSC.
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