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It had been a long hard fought upward battle against the utterly despicable man called Victor Solis and freeing Zerzura, they began to make their way towards the exit.
They didn't have much time to waste, as Suzie had exploded the majority of the underground laboratory, causing the surrounding walls to crack and fall from the sudden force.
All other exits were either inaccessible or blocked off by debris.
Except for the singular elevator.
Suzie swiftly inputted the card given by Quincy into the slot into the elevator, yet it remained unopened, with not much time to spare, Player started to smack and even punch the keypad till the doors opened.
The sound of the alarms echoed throughout the cave, telling them their imminent demise if they cannot escape in time.
They were so close to getting out of there and fulfilling what they came there to do.
Upon entering the elevator, Suzie began to unwind and calm down, taking a sigh of relief as they leaned against the walls of the elevator.
"Well, that was intense. I can't wait to get out of here—"
Suddenly the vile man known as Victor Solis had reached the elevator and grabbed hold of Player's shoulders, pulling them out of the elevator and down to the floor. Before he could react, Suzie had rushed towards him, using her shoulder to get him away from them.
After nearly knocking him off, he was focused on going back up on his feet. Suzie swiftly grabs Player and throws them into the elevator, with not a care of what happens to herself. When Victor Solis gets back up on his feet to kick Suzie down.
All in a fraction of a second, leaving Player dazed.
Looking at the two of them, right as Victor reaches for the door, it shuts right in his face.
As he attempts to get it to open by repeatedly pressing the button, he is kicked down by Suzie and pinned down.
Player attempts to try and open the door for Suzie, her eyes look all around while she keeps Victor Solis pinned down. When she just focuses her attention on them.
"Don't worry about me! I- I'll find another way!"
Before Player could even utter a word in, the elevator had begun its ascent. Leaving the two trapped in the collapsing underground. Their footing unsteady from the confrontation, taking them a moment to regain their composure and balance.
...
Grabbing hold of their head, Player attempts to just process everything that had occurred, just hoping Suzie was alright. When suddenly they hear Suzie's voice over the elevator telecom.
"Pl- Player? You there?" Suzie's groans of pains through the telecom.
Player immediately moves closer to the telecom in spite of the daze in their head. They were so glad she was okay more than anything else.
"Ugh that roughed me up... Got him though." Her laughter mixed with nervousness, with the occasional grumble underneath her breath.
Was she... okay? Player asked themselves, but nonetheless happy that she at least was the victor in that tussle between them.
She let out a breath, "There's gotta be another way outta here...", with a particular painful grunt following suit. Player could practically see Suzie clutching her stomach, but they couldn't.
They couldn't see her. And that scared them.
"We... We did it though, we got him." They did, they did get him. But Player didn't care about whether or not they got him at that moment. They just wanted her to be safe, more than any key.
All of this, they would've never even gotten close to even beating him without her. It was all her, and all Player wanted was to have her be safe and well above all else.
It was all they could think about.
To see their best friend right next to them again.
She was their best friend. And they didn't want to lose her. Player had begun to just pray to whatever god was watching them, praying to them that Suzie will come out safe.
"That was a pretty good plan, you could say it was the great—"
…
Her voice went into static as the elevator started to shake violently from the sudden collapse of the underground laboratory. Player's heart dropped, it felt like half of their body's limbs went limp as they heard that sudden cut.
For a moment, it felt like they held their breath like they were dead.
Despite how weak they felt, Player couldn't believe what they thought happened.
Suzie was fine. She was fine. She was safe. She's not hurt. She's not—
...
Player continuously and viciously banged the buttons, telling the elevator to go down, even slamming the doors as if their life depended on it. Scratching, scraping and slamming against the metallic doors, begging them to open.
Yet they weren't going to open.
...
Upon arriving to the surface, they had arrived at the debriefing with Ellen, Portia, Quincy and Zane. With Zane informing everyone what had occurred, omitting some details. "Victor Solis along with the underground lab has been destroyed." Zane explained.
"Excellent news." Ellen happily exclaimed before her eyes drifted towards a saddened Player, much less thrilled and excited. Which was unlike them from the short span she knew them.
"What's wrong?" She asked yet Player could not bring themselves to answer, only walking away elsewhere. To whom knows where, they don't know. They've lost more than anything.
They might have won, but at what cost.