Chapter Text
Hell is breaking lose. H4CK3R and the new and much more deadly Dark Lord are killing everyone in sight. Second is still stuck in the machine, possibly unconscious, against their will.
Ballista says something to Hazard in a panic, you can't make out what, and shortly after they throw a-
A BOMB!? I mean that'll do the job but STILL.
Ballista runs around looking for one of the omni-tools that Rocket corporation manufactures for multipurpose jobs. He got never proficient with it for combat, but he still had enough training with it to make a half-decent defense that will probably not hold a off an actual bomb. I mean, they bomb was the only option, even if he got some injuries, it would be enough for a distraction. A distraction could save lives.
Then he sees it. The yellow figure that Agent captured had one of the tools on. One of Agents tools. He tries not to think about what happened to him. An image engraved in his mind of Victim killing Agent. Victim wasn't himself, he had to be under the control of The Dark Lord.. right?
He snaps back to reality, and starts sprinting to Yellow at a speed he didn't know he could go at. He takes the tool from Yellow and makes a basic defense, just a cube with some with enough defense to hopefully keep him and the others safe.
Red was going to say something, since she didn't trust Ballista after their last altercation, but then she saw that he was trying to protect them and shut up so he could focus. Yellow didn't know how to use the tool anyways so it's better than being unprotected against the blast, she thought.
"Primal! Hazard!" He looked around for them for a second before continuing, "I have a defense set up for us!" His voice was glitchy and tired. He knew he had to close the barrier soon, he just hoped they could reach him in time.
He refused to close it without them. He just couldn't do it.
Primal was the first one there, she saw him and ran as fast as she could while motioning for Hazard to follow. Soon both of them made it inside and the cube was shut and paused for security.
There was seven people in the cube defense barrier thing that Ballista made. All they could do was wait and hope their efforts were enough..
Then the bomb hit. It was not a smooth experience.
Surprisingly, the cube held up! Literally. It wasn't anchored to the floor. The blast launched them up and away from the machine in one rough motion. Everyone was screaming, cursing, and some crying out of fear. When it flew away a wave of relief and disappointment rushed over everyone. Yes, they were a significant distance from the danger (even if they had a few bruises from the impact), but they had to leave behind Second, Agent, and Victim.
When the cube hit the ground and reached a stop, everyone just took a second to unpack everything that just happened. Red had tears in her eyes and was clearly attempting to mask her emotions to give the others hope. Green was sitting up, motionless, with a thousand thoughts on his mind. He was extremely concerned about Second and refused to talk about it when asked. Blue was also masking like Red, but was also talking to themselves to try to comprehend what just occurred. They were too scared about Second and the gang to say anything but what sounded like complete gibberish.
Yellow however, was relatively calm. Even more than the all of her friends combined. She was concerned about Second but was also comprehending all the events that occurred. She needed to be calm to plan this out and to find a way to save Second. Her eyes were at the floor and the only thing she could think about was what happened. Not necessarily why, but how. The Dark Lord was supposed to be dead. She saw the recordings of the fight between TDL and Second. No one could and should have been able to live that. While The Dark Lord was much, much, more powerful than any stick she ever met, it was impossible for her to live something like that. TDL also had some new enhancements with all of the goo based powers that Yellow didn't get much research done on.
It wasn't just that, the whole machine itself was an anomaly. It was constructed rapidly, meaning the design had to have been prepared before this happened. Victim only recently discovered Seconds powers, and probably didn't have enough time to plan how to use them, but The Dark Lord did. The Dark Lord knew about Seconds powers and knows how to create machinery as shown by her virabots and her viraband. If she designed the machine, then Victim could build it. It would also explain why all the revived sticks acted odd, when the color gang didn't show any of those symptoms. The symptoms could be caused by the fact that Second was forced to revive people instead of doing it on their own, but it could also be caused be The Dark Lord rigging the machine that she designed.
There was a lot of theories in Yellows mind, but this wasn't the right time to mention them. She had to focus on calming herself and the others down so they could plan. She spoke, in a voice to shaky to provide any real confidence, but enough to steady everyone else. "We h-have to calm down. I-If we don't we will put ourselves and Second in more danger." She took in a breath to steady herself. "We are going to be okay, alright? What Second is most concerned about in this moment is our safety and not his own, whether we want him to or not. And we're safe. So he has that as motivation." She stops to think about what to do next. Blue and Green are listening while still crying. Red is still fixated about Seconds safety.
Luckily, Yellow doesn't need to speak next since she was able to get Blue calm enough to do the pep talk the others need. Blue is infinitely better at this than yellow so she feels some relief.
"We need to focus on ourselves, even if we don't want to. We need to clean our wounds and heal our damages so we're ready to save Second once we have the opportunity." Blue is still thinking about something else, but they are focused enough to keep taking. "I hate to admit it, but, we can't do anything to save Second at this moment. We need to wait until it's safe for us to move in."
Red barks back. "BUT WE CAN'T WAIT! YOU SAW SECOND TOO, HE WAS SCREAMING IN PAIN AND WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE HE IS!" She breaks back into tears. "We can't just let him suffer like this! We can't save someone who's dead!" Everyone flinches at the last word. "W-We may not be able to do anything to save him but it's better for us to be there with him! He is suffering, and it's the least we can do to help!" She tries to catch her breath but starts choking on her tears. Blue helps her out and calms her down.
Green finally says something. He is not in his usually chatty and snarky behavior that can cheer everyone up. "I. I don't think that-" He stutters at every word with another issue weighing heavy in his heart. "-that they will do anything that's... lethal to Second." He pauses for what feels like forever and continues "It just wouldn't make sense, right? Second is the only one with reviving abilities and probably can't revive himself." All attention, including the mercenaries, are on him. "The Dark Lord wouldn't kill Second. It would only lead to her being weakened in the long run."
"So we're supposed to let him suffer?!" Red was still in tears but could speak still. "I mean yeah, he won't die, but he will still be injured, traumatized, and will probably slowly go insane if we do nothing!"
"We're injured, traumatized, and slowly going insane! Going there unprepared will only lead to more of a burden on Seconds body!" Green snaps back. "If we get deleted, then Second will have no hope! Even if we get revived, we may not even have control of our bodies!" Green is out of breath. He keeps still waiting for a reply.
Red replies, slowly and carefully so Green doesn't get to mad. "It's. It's just." She keeps stuttering unable to get the words out of her mouth. "What else can we even do..? We aren't strong enough to fight our way through to save Second, Second can't save himself in this state, we're to far away to sneak in, we-"
Blue, still calm somehow, tries to prevent Red from stressing out to much. It's not what Second would want. "We have to wait. You're right, we can't do anything. But others can." They look over to the mercenaries who are still worried about Victim and Agent. "Even if we, that includes the mercenaries, can't do anything to reach it, others can. They can create an opening for us. Even if they don't know we are here. We need to develop a plan in the meantime, in case we do have the chance to save Second." Everyone is looking at Blue now, eager for any ideas to save Second and the others.
Ballista joins the conversation. "Well, first, I think Yellow should learn how to use that tool." Yellows eyes widen, eager to discover more about the tools function. "We could've died in the explosion if I didn't get a barrier set up in time. We only have one of those tools with us, the other one must've been caught in the blast. Me, Hazard, and Primal do know how to use the tool but we have abilities to save ourselves in sticky situations. You don't. All of you should learn how to be proficient with it in case we get extras and to save yourselves."
The color gang doesn't know if that was an insult or not. I mean, after all, they did beat the mercenaries in a fight with just themselves and their surroundings. But the mercenaries are adults and they are kids, so they end up listening to them. Now all they need is to train and a plan.