Chapter Text
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Fs7Uq1_vOXBsByATLqemVYZVw95lfkkKesD0YdsJ64Q/edit
MPL AU FF 2 pt 2: Boogeyman (5)
This fanfic is based off of Lilydusk’s Midnight Poppyland, Asura’s Bride and various Secret Garden Series. This is not a recreation, however elements from MPL and AB are used for authentic purposes. NSFW content. Trigger Content. Please follow Lilydusk on WEBTOON and Patreon and read the real Midnight Poppyland and Asura’s Bride. Enjoy!
Music for Part 2:
Get Out Soundtrack
Us Soundtrack
Maniac Soundtrack
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Stupid mutt.
How could ya let this happen?
They’re dead ‘cause of me.
“…. left! They went left Bro!”
She would’ve been better off never knowin’ ya.
Never shoulda looked over at her.
What will you do if you lose her too?
“Right! Go right!”
I can’t lose her. I won’t lose her.
“… too fast!”
“… airlift your Dad…”
“…cover Big Bro!”
“You won’t save her if you're dead, son.”
I can’t lose her. I won’t lose her.
“Too icy! Can’t keep up!”
“Tracker stopped! They’re 3 blocks ahead, at that fancy High Rise they’re constructing!”
“Wait for us Big Bro!”
I’m coming Bobby. I won’t lose you too.
I can’t.
*************************************************
Five more minutes. I can sleep five more minutes.
The bed wasn’t very comfortable. The room was incredibly drafty. And someone left a window open, the rain was coming inside. But Poppy could be laying on train tracks right now, her eyelids were so heavy and her lulled mind was begging to drift back into oblivion.
Not train tracks. Joists. I’m laying on joist beams.
I’m laying on joist beams because I was taken from the rooftop.
I was taken from the rooftop by the homunculus.
A low whistling growl twenty feet in front of her boots helped her fully rise into her consciousness, but she forced back her natural urge to fight herself awake and upright. Instead, she schooled her breathing and heart rate, then slowly slit open her eyes.
She had steeled herself in anticipation of seeing the monster, but the first thing she noticed was the weather. The beams under her were at a constant tremble from the thunder and lightning firing so quickly and violently it was hard to tell which was happening first. And was this rain, snow or sleet creating a layer of ice on her? The cold felt as though it was creeping into her bones despite her weather tech coat, fleece lined jeggings and combat boots.
She was so thrown off from the oddity of this storm she almost forgot about the other occupant in her vicinity. Almost.
The trench wasn’t on it when it had taken her, and the coat still wasn’t on it. It’s skin almost blended in with the paleness of the lightning strikes. It had its back to her, and it was carefully digging at its shoulder where its arm should be. Poppy suppressed her shudder when she realized it was sloughing off the salt burned flesh as if it were trying to pick off a scab.
But instead of a scar under the blackened and charred pieces it was cautiously removing, there was tissue regenerating.
Its arm is going to grow back. And most likely its eye will too. Poppy managed to choke back her terrified and frustrated sob as she continued to lay motionless and witness Vincent Balthuman’s sacrifice lose its significance, her own efforts soon to be in vain as well. No. This can’t happen like this. She had to focus. She couldn’t give up.
Stay calm and think, Pops. Why did it take you… and not kill you?
Poppy bit the inside of her cheek as she recalled the awful moments it had her trapped against the brick wall in the Warehouse District. It had sniffed her. It had sniffed the side of her body that had laid against Damien. And it smelled her pelvis and lower abdomen, because Tora didn’t pull out when he…
Sh-t.
Of course, just as Tora’s scent was on and in her, hers was all over him. She held him as tightly as she could the morning he got arrested, and neither of them bothered to shower after they found out about Tiko. She wondered if this thing could still smell the seat belt from Joe’s Jeep that had rubbed against her neck the night it attacked the police station.
It had evolved its hunt significantly, more than she had calculated. Poppy wanted to scream from her stupidity and her terror as she imagined this thing in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to obtain its own bait for its own trap.
She had to get out of here, but where was here?
Poppy strengthened her resolve and let her eyes wander from the homunculus repairing itself to her surroundings. The lightning provided a constant flickering of illumination bright enough for her to orient herself. She was high up, high enough where that thing would survive a fall but not her, or Tora. She was surrounded by metal frameworking, as if she was resting in the carcass of a building. No walls, no windows, no solid flooring. No easy way to get to her. Sh-t.
What about an easy way of getting out? Poppy peered beyond the last metal beams, searching for a rooftop she could potentially hop to. Nothing. She looked downwards, silently gulping at the concrete slab and dirt ground 75 feet below her. She was at a major construction site.
The High Rise. She was at the High Rise. There was a huge blowout with the builder and the city because they had purchased the surrounding buildings with the promise to rehab them in exchange for a lower price from the city. Then the investor knocked them all down, claiming they were irreparable. There wasn’t another building she could hop to within 500 feet.
At least they installed the grounding poles. Otherwise she was sure the homunculus would be the least of her worries. Lightning has already hit the structure four times.
So how was she supposed to get out of here? Poppy glanced to her right, and almost barked out a cry of relief. There was a crane on the opposite side of the building that was suspending a 6 foot high stack of drywall two floors beneath her. Could she make it?
Maybe if she used her last flare. She didn’t dare pull out her cattle prod and risk dropping or losing it. After Quincey’s abduction, Tora’s vigilance had skyrocketed, and she would be a fool to pretend he didn’t have a way to find her. She was sure Tora had placed the tracker in her cattle prod. He knows she never goes anywhere without it, and how else would he have ‘stumbled upon her’ at Gudrun’s the other night?
The homunculus must also know there was a way for its quarry to find her. It obviously wants to keep her as fresh bait, so as long as Tora was en route she could assume she was safe. For now. But she couldn’t wait around for it to fully regenerate its arm and she definitely couldn’t lead Tora into an ambush.
A low whoosh that did not belong to the raging storm crept across the side of her face. Poppy’s heart instantly started slamming around in her chest and her ragged breaths stuttered out of her in puffs as she slowly turned her head, screaming at the boogeyman of Narin snarling right next to her.
She jerked and flopped out of startled reflex, the ice layer splintering off of her thrashing limbs. But in her absolute fright she rolled, her body slipping through the joist beams feet first. She braced for impact as she fell towards the framed out lower level 13 feet below her, hoping her ribs won’t break.
Her shoulder almost dislocated from the abrupt halt in her momentum, her body bouncing and swaying with inertia that needed an outlet. She hollered out, then looked up once she began swinging like a pendulum, her fist immediately pounding at the long skeletal fingers wrapped around her forearm and her legs kicking furiously at the air. She felt herself rising up, her mind warning her if that thing gets her back where it wants her there was zero chance for survival. She stopped struggling and drew her foot up, yanking her emergency flare out of her boot. She calculated she was only six feet from the lower joist beams, she can survive it if she landed just right.
As expected, it released her with a screech and covered its newly regenerated eye the second she lit her flare. She ignored her pained eardrums, held the flare high and kept her gaze fixed downwards as she dropped, angling her body to land upright on the joist beams. The momentum of her fall caused her to land in a deep squat, which was scary in itself considering she could have slipped through the joists butt first this time, but her feet remained steady on the beams. She had ten minutes with this flare, and she had no clue how much time she had before this thing figured out a countermeasure against it. The crane was just one more level down. She had to keep going.
She didn’t give herself time to strategize how to navigate her harrowing escape in this icy rain, she held up the flare and gripped the beam, letting herself dangle down into the level beneath her. She was a little over 5 feet, this time it would be almost a 7 foot drop. She let go of the beam right before its talons slashed into her fingers, clutching one of the beams to catch herself from slipping due to her hurried landing.
I-Beam. Get to an I Beam. They were much thicker than the joists, she could get better footing. And an I Beam would also run the length of this level. She could use that to get to the crane.
And then what? She was still too high up to drop to the ground, and she couldn’t possibly climb a slippery chain and then traverse from the top of a crane down to solid ground. Would it be better to risk dropping levels with this thing hot on her heels?
Get to the crane. She didn’t know why, but her gut was telling her to get to the crane. And she trusts her judgment, it rarely fails. But when it does, it fails her big time.
She couldn’t think like that. The homunculus was in pursuit, but kept a measured distance, its gangly body bobbing and weaving as if trying to figure out a way around the flare. But she kept her pace as she speedily traversed the joists, almost slipping once she got on the I Beam but she recovered. She dashed towards the end of the building and jumped towards the crane as soon as she got in range, her intestines lifting into her diaphragm from the temporary weightlessness of sailing through the air. She extended her arms, determined to hold onto the flare as long as possible before she hit the stack of drywall. She aimed for the joint where all four chains met above the drywall and yelped when she crashed chest first into it.
She dropped the flare, wrapped her arms around whatever she could on the convergence of chains and held tightly, her lower half still whipping forward. She felt herself losing her hold on the chains, but thankfully dropped soundly onto her back on the stack of drywall, the flare next to her boot. She grabbed it and a chain, stood and spun in time to swing the flare in a wide arc at the homunculus flying towards her.
It corrected right before it landed to avoid the flare, its nails clawing into the drywall as it slipped off the edge of the stack, finding a holding three feet lower than her. Poppy plopped onto her bottom with a chain between her legs, clutched it with one hand and a leg and began stomping at its thick nails which were digging into the drywall with her other foot, hoping its nails were unable to regenerate like its teeth and therefore something to protect.
To her immense relief it growled and let go of the drywall, not even phased by the 40 plus foot drop. However if the weather conditions were different it would’ve landed effortlessly in the dirt. Instead it hit the ground, but recovered in a blink of an eye, its purple smeared snarl as it roared up at her curdling Poppy’s blood in her veins. She briefly wondered if staying put would’ve been the better option, she was sure it would make her demise exceptionally painful.
No. You can’t give up.
Now what? It’s arm was almost halfway regenerated. She was sure she could keep it off the platform, for as long as the flare lasts, but would that be enough time for Tora to get here? She looked down, her heart plummeting when she saw it standing under the platform. Waiting. Or re-calculating, its eyes blindly fixed on her, its nose holes quivering away and its snarl reminiscent of a smile. Poppy shuddered hard, she knew she just graduated from simple bait to a significant threat.
Now what?!
She was so focused on her stand off with the homunculus she didn’t notice the black car speeding through the site until moments before its head swiveled as the bumper connected with it, its body rolling under the tires with a loud screech. The car slid to a stop and backed up, repeating its attack in reverse before the homunculus got back on its feet. The car charged forward once more, the thing howling and screeching and its remaining limbs slashing viciously at the metal frame running over it.
Poppy felt a jolt, her hold instinctively tightening onto the chain between her thighs. The crane bellowed to life, and Poppy felt herself gliding to the left through the air and lowering while the car continued its forwards backwards attack on the creature. She tried to look behind her at who was operating the crane, but she couldn’t see from where she was positioned. The crane stopped once the drywall was 10 feet off the ground, another black car skidding under her.
“Jump Miss Poppy!,” James revved the engine, Daniel high tailing it from the crane to the backseat of the car.
Poppy dropped the flare first and used the chain to shimmy down against the side of the drywall, her teeth chattering as her chest pressed against the gashes in the material where its nails had been. She let go of the chain, landing without grace on top of the car with a loud thud and an oomph , catching herself from sliding completely off the car, her body sitting on the hood and laying against the windshield once she stopped her tumbling. She was sure her ankle had rolled, but the cold wetness soaking her entire jeggings numbed the hot prickles of her fresh injury.
A hand grabbed her coat and tugged, Poppy started swinging out of habit.
“It’s me , Miss Poppy!” Daniel continued pulling her and she stilled, then started wiggling to help him haul her through the passenger’s window.
James shifted and spun the tires out as soon as Daniel had her front half in the car. By the time she was in the car they were almost out of the construction site, James rolling the window up the moment her boots were in the car. But Poppy scrambled to the back seat with Daniel, her heart dropping as the other car and the homunculus were now facing off. No!!
“Tora!!,” Poppy bellowed, diving over Daniel to grab the door handle. It was just him and that thing one on one, she couldn’t leave him! Vince’s yells echoed briefly in her head as she yanked the door handle, but Daniel wrestled her hands off the door and slammed it back closed. Poppy lunged for the other door, but Daniel’s weight crashed down on her as he fought to restrain her.
“No Miss Poppy, please!,” Daniel hollered, grunting hard from her knee smashing into his solar plexus.
“I’m not leaving him!, ” she screeched back, growling as Daniel stopped her wrist from extending her cattle prod. He managed to knock her prod onto the floor boards, but Poppy began kicking and swinging, grappling with Daniel to let her go. But Daniel held his own, positioning himself between her and James to prevent her from going after the wheel.
“Ya gotta trust us, Miss Poppy! Trust him!,” James shouted, his own battle with the car, the storm and the icy roads continuing as he sped down a main boulevard away from the High Rise.
“Please don’t do this Miss Poppy,” Daniel winced from the unnaturally angled arm lock she had him in. Poppy took a breath and stopped resisting, Daniel was shaking.
“We’re gonna lead it to the Mills,” James announced in her moment of pause. “Quincey had to airlift his Dad to a hospital but he’s coming as soon as he’s done. He should be here soon, he’s gonna cover Tora. We got trucks of salt mobilized. He’s gonna be okay, Miss Poppy!”
“Gyu and Joe’s already there, they’re getting the rest of the salt set up for us. He’ll be fine, Miss Poppy! He won’t face that thing head on yet!”
“….you promise?,” Poppy panted, her hold on Daniel loosening. She released him and shifted so she could watch the High Rise get smaller and smaller through the rear windshield, her tear soaked eyes widening as two more lightning bolts struck the building, Tora’s car and that thing no longer in sight. Her shivering wasn’t because of the cold. Everything inside of her begged to go back to him. But she knew it was a waste to keep fighting with Daniel and James. If their plan was successful then she needed to reserve her strength.
“We promise, Miss Poppy,” Daniel sniffed as he pushed himself up from where she had his upper half and arms immobilized between her legs.
No sooner had he said that, a searchlight whizzed over them, an attack helicopter traveling at maximum velocity towards the High Rise. James turned a corner to cut through downtown, the streets eerily deserted, and she couldn’t see any of what she wanted to see anymore. She had to trust he would make it.
He’s going to make it. He has to.
—————————————————-
The Old Mills District was even creepier than the former Nuclear District even though it was much younger and hasn’t been abandoned as long.
The main structure was built upon a man made cliff, the narrow beach below would have connected to the recreational beaches in the Riverside District if not for the barricades at the edges of the Mills District. The cliff had been designed for boats and ships to drop anchor for the expansive chute that jutted out of the main structure to dump the grain right into the cargo holds.
The surrounding buildings were designed to filter products into the main building with speed and efficiency. There were a lot of rail car paths, pulley systems, chutes and shafts that connected the 5 smaller buildings to the main one. Most of those supporting systems have decayed away. The rest of the wooden buildings have succumbed to neglect and termites.
Poppy chose this place as a fail safe for a few reasons. One, it was deserted and away from Narin and Ares St residents so Helix could blast away on her mini gun from the chopper. Two, the rail cars were most likely still operable. Three, there were a lot of narrow spaces and places on the upper levels to hide. Four, the District was designed to filter truckloads and boatloads of material in and out, so maneuvering dump trucks full of rock salt would be easier.
And five, there was enough good wood to burn this place to the ground with a dead homunculus inside of one of the buildings.
They had set up rock salt in each building, with the main building having the most. The main building was like a giant 2 story wooden barn, the upper level just around the perimeter of the lower level with openings from the shutes and pulleys from the other buildings. The lower level was one open room, with about a layer of rock salt a foot deep instead of grain.
The other buildings were smaller versions of the main one, and Poppy was thankful some of the cables to the pulley systems were still intact and connecting the buildings together. If things got ugly they had another avenue of escape.
Poppy, Joe, Daniel, James and Gyu were spaced out on the upper level of the main building, armed with flash grenades, a modified weapon and guns. They had the grenade launcher just in case. But Poppy had informed them damaging its skin with the salt and then shooting away wouldn't be enough to kill it. They would cause significant damage, but eradicating it was a two step process.
Someone will have to get up close and personal, use the spear part of the specialized gun and inject the salt sludge directly into its body. Hopefully by then they will have it injured enough to do the deed without creating another casualty.
Poppy ground her teeth, refusing to imagine that outcome. She couldn’t handle another loss… especially if that loss was Tora.
Tora…
“They should be here by now,” Poppy fidgeted, her grip tightening on her assault rifle. She had stuffed a few extra clips in her coat pocket, along with more flares. There was a fire extinguisher next to her as well. She wanted to pace, but there were floorboards missing and the wood was rotted out in unknown places. One misstep and she could fall through the floor.
The building shook again, boards and planks rattling hard and loud. The lightning and thunder had eased up marginally, but now the wind was strong enough to carry one away if the gust was powerful enough. Poppy yelped and ducked, a few planks to the outer wall ripped off of the structure, the whistling wind was almost train like. The ice rain felt like pebbles pelting her face. She shifted away from the newly made opening, her coat flapping violently and her low bun morphing into a matted ponytail.
Hurricane. That was the only way to describe what was happening with the weather. But hurricanes only happen in tropical regions, and never in Narin City. So what the hell is going on? Did teleportation cause this much of an environmental disturbance? Maybe that smaller machine was teleported into Narin just like the big one was teleported out. Would that explain what Pine was talking about with the rift? If so, then what exactly was the rift?
D-mnit, the only two people who have that information were Director Pine and Dr. Lina. If they make it out of this Poppy was going to get some answers. She decided to hold onto her new mission, using it as a way to keep herself grounded and level headed instead of the furiously petrified wreck she knew she was.
“Where are they?!,” Poppy snapped, standing back up in her new post.
She saw the searchlights before anyone could answer her, their movements jagged and jerky from how valiantly Quincey was trying to pilot in this madness and how hard Brian and Damien were trying to provide cover. The wind almost drowned out the chopper blades along with the sound of a horn blaring on its approach.
Something’s wrong…
“Too fast,” Poppy realized, her eyes darting to Joe. But Joe had the specialized weapon aimed at the door, the rest of the crew following suit with their rifles.
“We ain’t gonna be able to close it in,” Joe yelled, “Quincey will have to guard the door!”
Just then rounds from the mini gun sliced through the giant barn style doors, the building rumbling hard as the black car crashed through the doors, wood splinters and shards flying everywhere and the homunculus latched onto the driver’s side. Poppy raised her rifle, her heart hammering as the car began spinning to do donuts, the tires grinding and kicking up the rock salt in a massive plume of salt dust. Poppy and the others had to back away from the dilapidated railing on the second floor, blinking their eyes, covering their mouths and hacking, unable to assist as Tora circled and circled the car, the homunculus screeching loud and pounding hard against the driver’s side door . A window shattered, Poppy screamed, dashing to the edge of the second floor in time to see the car flipping and rolling.
The car collided into one of the wooden I Beams holding up the second floor on the opposite side of the building, Gyu running and jumping to safety right as that section collapsed on top of the upside down car, wood and dust adding to the salt fog burning Poppy’s nose and lungs. Gyu was back on his feet next to Joe, but the section they were on was too unstable for the both of them. Joe pushed Gyu right before more of the floor gave out, Joe falling to the first floor.
“Joe!,” Poppy was sure everyone was yelling and shouting, but all she heard was her own voice, her heart hammering in her ears and the chopper blades as Quincey hovered in front of the gaping entrance. The searchlights shined steadily into the building, the bright lights casting deep shadows in the building and making Poppy squint.
Joe moved, standing up, but then dropped back down. “F-cking leg!,” he yelled. He looked over at the car and the wood pile, using one hand to block out the light so he could see better.
“I can’t see them!” Joe shouted, howling as he forced himself to stand. He raised the modified weapon up and started shuffling to the car, his leg dragging.
Poppy didn’t know when she had steadied her rifle, but she was down on one knee, her sights trained on the wreckage and her finger curled around the trigger. Her mind forced her out of herself as Joe reached the mangled pile of wood and metal, everything feeling surreal as if this was someone else’s life she was viewing from their point of view.
Daniel and James had somehow found a way down to the first floor and Joe kept watch as they shouldered their rifles and started tossing boards and planks off of the upturned vehicle, clearing out the passenger’s side just in time to see the strobe of a flash grenade in the car and Tora’s bloodied hand smear across the window.
“Sh-t!!” Daniel and James were yanking the door open and hauling Tora out, who was in the process of ripping the homunculus’s salt charred hand from its wrist, its fingers lodged deep into Tora’s right calf. Joe dropped to his knees, firing a salt capsule into the car, another loud screech and growl as Tora kicked hard, his body flying back into James and Daniel with a loud pop as the three fell to the floor.
“F-ck!,” Tora yelped as Joe slammed the door closed and backed away, his guard raised and the homunculus banging around inside the car. Tora reached down and yanked the creature’s hand out of his calf, hissing loudly when salt met his wound as he tossed the severed hand.
“Tora!” Poppy screamed from her perch, her body poised to start shooting. He was still in his clothes from earlier, but his head was bleeding. His leg was bleeding, and there was blood dripping from the cuff of his stitched arm.
“We gotta keep it on this level!,” Tora rasped, bolting upright and his eyes searching for a weapon, oblivious to his injuries.
“Tora!,” Poppy set the safety and threw her rifle, Tora moving and catching it. But the building started shaking again, more of the upper level was going to collapse.
Poppy grabbed her extinguisher and dashed into the opening of the chute, the long one that led out to the river. Poppy knew it was built independently from the building and therefore wouldn’t collapse. Gyu stuffed himself in shortly after, the rest of the upper level crumbling and crashing to the lower level as soon as his feet were in the shaft.
“We gotta go up the chute!” Gyu shoved her as gunshots, yelling and screeching echoed up to her. “This whole place is gonna collapse if we don’t find something to shore up the walls!”
That was enough motivation for Poppy to start climbing. If the building collapses now then Tora, Joe, Daniel and James will still be inside when it goes down, and that thing could potentially survive while they most likely wouldn’t.
*****************************************************
Tora should be watching for when this f-cking thing broke out of the car, but instead his eyes remained fixated on Poppy as she climbed into the chute. His leg was on fire, his arm was throbbing. His head hurt like hell, and he had no idea how to kill this thing for good, but he never felt better. Poppy was alive. She was a little banged up, but she was alive.
He could stop seeing her in Tiko’s place, in Mrs. Balthuman’s place now. She won’t end up like them. He’ll die before that happens.
Speaking of dying.
“How do we kill it? Really kill it?!,” Tora demanded, shouting over the chaos of the upper level collapsing. He popped the safety off the rifle and leveled it. He waited, he knew it would be dumb to start shooting now, all of the Shadow Divisions cars were bullet proof.
“Miss Poppy said it regenerates if it takes off what’s damaged,” James puffed, “we gotta get the salt in its bloodstream somehow, Joe has the gun for it, works like a harpoon and grenade launcher.”
“F-ck,” Tora jolted and fell backwards along with the others once the car door flew towards them. He started shooting on his way down, using the staccato screeches as a guide on where to inflict maximum injury. It must have some lingering damage on its skin.
Tora lowered his gun and grabbed handfuls of salt, whipping them at the car door opening as fast and hard as he could while Daniel and James kept shooting. He figured if he could keep a steady salt dust cloud around it then it won’t be able to regenerate and they can shoot the sh-t out of it. Hopefully it will be enough.
“Joe don’t shoot until ya see it!,” Tora clipped, his jaw clenching as the rock salt burned into the cuts and scrapes on his hands and the holes in his leg. But he kept blindly throwing the salt. James and Daniel’s clips ran out at the same time, both of them scooting backwards while they reloaded.
The thing launched itself out of the car, and Joe fired right into its f-cking neck while it was mid air. Tora could almost smell its flesh burn. But it curled up and made itself into a cannonball. F-ck, it was gonna knock them like bowling pins. Tora and the crew managed to roll away right before it hit the ground. It unfolded itself and skidded across the salt covered ground, slamming into the debris on the opposite side of the car.
“Tora!,” Joe tossed Tora the gun, he was struggling to get up. This was the worst f-cking time for the old man’s back to give out. Tora abandoned his rifle, caught the gun and was on one knee, moving himself between his crew and the homunculus in seconds. He briefly glanced at the knobs and levers, learning the gun in moments, then took aim, firing another round of whatever that mess was into the opposite side of its neck just as it had hopped up to a crouch. It screeched, baring its ugly -ss fangs and rattling its tongue.
But even with the obvious upper hand Tora and his men had, this was still the scariest sh-t he’s ever seen. How can something look so much like a man, and yet nothing like a man? But what was turning Tora’s blood to ice and making his hairs stand on end was the way it was looking at him. Its pale skin wasn’t gooey anymore, just charred up leather. It only had one and a half arms and no hands. But it was still f-cking smiling at him.
Tora aimed again, looking to melt its mouth right off of it, “shoot its neck,” he snapped as his finger curled around the release lever, sounds of guns cocking and adjusting behind him.
But one moment it was in front of them, and the next literal moment it had leapt up to the second level, its toes and talons burying into the wood with ease. Sh-t!!! Tora and his men could only gape in horror as it slipped through an opening in the outer wall.
“Poppy!,” Tora was sprinting to the entrance, waving for Helix to drop the ladder before the others could even stand up. Quincey lowered the bird as the rungs tumbled towards him. He didn’t have time to wait, couldn’t spare a second to redirect their attack. Poppy and Gyu were somewhere in that f-cking chute, and that thing was out there! He had to protect Poppy, had to keep her safe!
He launched himself onto the ladder, tangling his injured arm into a ladder rung strap and stepping on another rung with one foot. Quincey lifted off, guiding the chopper around the structure lower than usual so Tora wouldn’t have to fight the wind and rain so hard. Quincey was flying him up to the chute moments later, Tora’s entire world going dark as he tunnel visioned.
That thing was at the very top of the chute, blocking Poppy and Gyu’s path to get to the pulley chains attached to the chute. Gyu had his rifle raised and Poppy was in front of him, a flare in each hand, her body slightly crouched and pitched forward to stay balanced, her face set for war. Tora’s heart almost stopped as he watched that thing bounce hard on the chute, Gyu and Poppy both slipping and falling to hands and knees, their weapons plummeting to the ground 60 feet beneath them.
Tora’s world slowed down, his mind going blank and his body reacting without thought or command as soon as that thing took one step towards Poppy and Gyu. Tora didn’t know how he was airborne but he was. He didn’t even know when he had let go of the ladder to drop down onto the chute but he had. He didn’t feel his feet connect and stick like glue to the metal chute. He wasn’t even aware he had angled himself to land perfectly right between that thing and Poppy but it happened.
He knew he was ramming the gun upwards, but he had no idea how he managed to lodge the spear-like tip right into its upper jaw, right where he had shot out its tooth the first night he saw it. The moment he felt the crunch of the metal spear piercing tooth and bone, everything else faded away. The rain, the wind, the blinding lights, Poppy’s screams. The only thing in his world was the purple spurting all over him, and the searing pain of something going through him.
He coughed, his own blood spewing out onto this monster’s face which was inches from his own, a strange new color as purple mixed with red. His lung was pierced, and his mind told him he didn’t have much longer.
He squeezed the lever for the spear gun part, the gun vibrating hard as it transferred every drop of its lethal concoction straight into this thing's skull. It choked and gagged around the weapon, or was that him? He couldn’t breathe in to think clearly or orient his senses, his time was almost out.
With the last strength he had, he pushed. And pushed, and pushed some more as this abomination convulsed and writhed. Tora felt more sharp pangs on his thigh, it had bent its leg and dug its talons into a thigh. But there was less resistance now that it was off balance. He can keep pushing. He can get it farther away from Poppy.
He couldn’t stop, he lowered, his growl a gurgle as he charged the final distance to the end of the chute, the last of his reserve used to launch him and the monster completely off of the structure.
His world expanded slightly as he felt himself nose-diving with this motionless thing under him. He saw the raging waters of the river beneath them, noticing how pretty the contrast of the frothy waves were in comparison to the deep navy of the river. The sun must be coming out soon, the water turns this color before the morning.
Poppy taught him that.
***********************************************
When Tora had dove off the chute with that homunculus chaos had immediately erupted. Poppy didn’t even know how they had all made it down to the beach as fast as they had, but the waters and storm had calmed with a mighty foray of lightning and thunder moments after Tora’s muted splash crushed her soul.
The crew has been fanning out along the beach looking for Tora and that thing’s body for what seemed like an eternity since they didn’t have tracking equipment. But Poppy would spend her last days searching these sands and waters if she had to. She was at her breaking point, but a stubborn hope that Tora would be found and found alive kept her utter destruction at bay. She grit her teeth and keep walking along the shore, all her anger directed at the dense fog that limited her vision. Please please please be okay, Tora!
“ Joe!!!!” Poppy saw him first, sprinting towards the silhouette of Joe materializing in the early morning fog as he limped under Tora’s large frame slung across his shoulders, Tora’s limbs swaying lifelessly from the way Joe was dragging his own leg.
Poppy’s heart began galloping faster than her pace, threatening to burst all together at the sight of Tora so still. Joe had found him, but this was not what she had wanted to see.
“Tora!!” Poppy wailed, her sobs racking out of her as she almost crashed into father and son when she skidded to a halt. She immediately grabbed whatever she could of Tora, which happened to be his wrist and his forearm, a loud scream tearing out of her. He was so cold, too cold.
He can’t be dead, she told herself. She refused to allow herself to believe he was dead.
It’s the river, she reasoned. It’s because he was in the river.
“Joe!” Poppy choked out, shaking Tora’s arm and searching Joe’s face for any kind of reassurance he could offer.
“He’s hanging on by a thread,” Joe pushed her out of his path, his jaw setting and a determined fire burning in his eyes as he continued his haggard march to the Mill’s elevator shaft located at the base of the cliff.
“Quincey!! Get the chopper ready!!” Poppy hollered, Quincey sliding to a stop with a wave of sand, his weeping audible from the quarter mile distance. He spun on his heel, racing to the man made stone steps carved into the cliff so Joe could have the manual elevator. The others will just have to find their own way, they have to get Tora treated immediately.
Poppy grabbed onto Tora’s hand, stopping it from knocking against Joe’s back, squeezing as much of her body heat as she could into him, willing him to live with everything she had. She hated how helpless she felt.
“Stay with us! Please!” Poppy cried, keeping pace with Joe. Her other hand went to gently rub his koi decorated arm, hoping the friction will help warm him. She fought the horrid thought that the wounds and blood loss may make the hypothermia moot with everything she had left.
“You’re gonna make it son,” Joe rasped, his breathing ragged and his eyes pouring tears into his sweat, creating streaks in his blood and grime caked face. Joe let out a strained groan, gritting his teeth and picking up his pace, hell bent on getting his son to the crank operated elevator even if it cost him his own life, “you’re gonna make it. You’re my Tiger, ya always land on your feet.” but Joe’s voice faltered, one sob choking out of him.
He can’t be dead!! He can’t die!!
Poppy ignored the protest from her ribs and ankle and sidled next to Joe’s side with his injured leg, careful not to mess up his flow or cause him to stumble, Tora’s wet and matted hair draping over her face. “Will this help?” she sniffled, offering herself as a human crutch.
“Yeah,” Joe panted, “lemme just lean some weight on ya.”
He’s going to make it, Poppy repeated to herself over and over as she puffed and strained to help Joe carry Tora to the elevator, her mind holding at bay the replay of him diving over the edge of that chute with that thing skewering him as Tora had been impaling it .
He has to make it .
———————-
It had been a blur once they had hauled Tora into the elevator, but now at her and Quincey’s condo Poppy was blinking to keep herself from passing out.
Their place was the closest, and also the Doctor was there. He had been ready with blood, sutures, paddles, everything they needed to save Tora. But there was a big problem, a problem none of them had noticed until now.
“What are you saying?!” Quincey demanded from the left of her. He had been pacing and crying in their living room as the assistant had worked on a sedated Joe, but when Poppy stopped the Doctor he had charged into Tora's room.
“Something’s not right,” Poppy repeated, her chest so tight her muscles were cramping up, her ribs in flames from the internal squeezing. She grit her teeth against the pain and hurriedly finished cutting off Tora’s clothes, frantic for understanding.
“I saw him, you saw him. It’s tongue went through him right here,” Poppy placed her hand on Tora’s right pectoral, relieved to see his breathing was getting stronger on its own. “But there’s no wound . And here,” Poppy pointed down to his right calf, “we were there when that happened too.”
Poppy sat back, inspecting Tora’s body in earnest. He didn’t have a scratch on him, even his forearm was unscathed as if nothing had happened to it.
“Poppy… his neck,” Quincey whispered, his eyes wide and his body shaking.
“What?” Poppy jumped back when she saw it, slamming into the wall. But she was numb to any injury she gave herself. What is going on?!
“What’s wrong with his neck?” The Doctor gruffed, his impatience to treat Tora palpable, “there’s no injury on his neck.”
“There’s… no tattoo , either,” Poppy gulped, a coldness unlike any other she’s felt seeping into every part of her. This makes no sense. What happened to him when he fell over? Was this something that homunculus did? What is this?!
“Bobby…” Tora groaned hoarsely, one golden eye slitting open to blindly search. He moaned loudly in pain, his body curling into a ball as he rolled to his side. He knows my name! My special name! There was no way any type of monster would know to call her that.
“I’m here Tora,” Poppy sniffed, rushing back to drop to her knees by his side, brushing a tangled midnight lock off of his face. Quincey moved to kneel beside her as the Doctor plunged some pain meds in Tora’s IV line.
Tora gritted his teeth and shivered, Quincey quickly covered his nakedness up. But Poppy was so happy to hear him speak she kissed him, everything else no longer important, her crying beginning again.
“Tora, what happened?” Poppy sniffled between kisses, smiling and giggling in total mirth when he squeezed her hand and returned her affections as best he could.
“I dunno…” Tora wheezed, his eyes fluttering to try and open all the way, “there was a storm, I got hurt… and fell off the boat.”
What?????!!!!
“A boat?” Quincey said it before Poppy could. This was concerning, has he lost his mind along with his tattoo?
Tora’s eyes flew open when he heard Quincey’s voice, his golden orbs darting around the room, his body tensing with his growing alarm.
“Bobby, where are we? Who is he? ” Tora tried to sit up, but collapsed. Poppy rubbed his arm, deciding to play along to gauge where his mind was.
“It’s Quincey,” Poppy replied innocently, “your best friend.”
“I’ve never seen that man,” Tora scowled, this time managing to sit up on the bed and face Poppy. “Poppy, where is our son?”
Son?!
“W-What do you mean?” Poppy stammered, thoroughly thrown off. “Tora, I think you’re disoriented, maybe concussed. We’re not…. together, together.” Yet.
“Poppylan this isn’t funny,” Tora snapped, his brows knitting together in a scowl, “what is this place? Where is our son?”
“Y-You two have a son?” Quincey jumped in, quirking an eyebrow. Tora glared at Quincey.
“Yeah, my wife and I have a son. But who are you? Are you one of them?!” Tora’s jaw clenched, his hands curling into fists.
Our son… my wife… storm… no tattoo…
Made Contact… repair the rift….
‘Never thought it would work….’
‘Crosses… world…’
Rift…. repair the rift before the storm….
‘Tiny robots and DNA…’
‘Crosses… world… ??’
“Crosses… world…. Crosses… worlds!” Poppy was back on her feet, pacing with her panic. Oh no! Oh no no no!!
“What are you saying, Bobby?” Tora eyed her warily, grabbing more of the sheet to cover his immodesty.
“Yeah I think we would all like to know,” Quincey chimed in. The Doctor sat down on the edge of the bed, puffing from the continued delay.
“ That’s what Dr. Kauff was trying to say,” Poppy’s thoughts were tumbling out of her mouth faster than she could comprehend them, her feet sparking the plush rug from how fast she was charging back and forth, “I bet the notes would confirm it, that’s what Kauff was trying to say, that abomination was created for harvest, they were harvesting its DNA for multiverse exploration and teleportation, that’s what Pine meant about a rift, they were trying to prove the theory!” Poppy was in the beginning stages of hyperventilating.
“Bobby?” Tora asked, his eyes so full of concern, he stretched a hand out to her, slightly swaying to keep himself conscious enough to comfort her.
“That’s why he doesn’t have the tattoo,” Poppy swooned, pointing at Tora, a dreadful realization robbing her of her air, “Sir? Did you run away from the orphanage?”
“Bobby-“
“Answer the question! Please!”
“No,” Tora flushed, “but you already know that.”
“Oh. My. God,” Quincey caught on, plopping down on the floor, his own breathing threatening to fail him. “You mean they actually f-cking did it?!” Quincey dropped his head in his hands, his gasps for air louder than Poppy’s.
“I’m sorry can someone clue me in here,” the Doctor scolded, “does he need treatment or not?”
“No,” Poppy gulped, begging her tattered nerves to hold out just a little bit more before she freaked the f-ck out.
“Bobby-“
“Tora,” Poppy began, her hands practically pulling out her hair, “I’m not your wife. Because you’re not from this world.”
“What are you talking about?!” Tora demanded, his heart breaking in his eyes, “if you wanna leave me just say it!”
“Listen to me!!!!” Poppy screamed, her hands clenching to fists to keep herself from collapsing, her panic attack now in full force once Quincey’s sobbing shook the floor, the crew barging in right as she spelled it out, “you’re in another world. An alternate world in an alternate universe where my Tora ran away from the orphanage, got picked up by the mafia and is now somewhere out there, injured , and we’re here!!! He’s out there and we’re here!!! He’s dying and we don’t know where he is!!!!!”
************************************************
Lane’s boots sloshed along the slick gravel in the Warehouse District, the sound heavy and sullen. Everything was melancholic to her at the moment: the thick fog staving off the morning light, the hollowness of the breeze, the dewy taste of the harbor‘s air. The stench of death, crows and seagulls alike flocking and feasting upon the mafia and IBI corpses strewn about the District.
Last night was the worst night of her life, worse than the attack at the police station. Maybe it was so insurmountable because she had to sit and watch the love of her life turn on everything she thought he stood for. Maybe it was because there were so many lives that were unnecessarily ended.
Or maybe it was the fact that everything went so wrong and yet so right because of her.
Lane tched, popping up the lapels to her red wool pea coat and stuffing her hands back in her coat pockets, her head burrowing down into her black and red checkered scarf to help warm her ears. She reminded herself she would not feel any guilt about her involvement in this nightmare. The Boogeyman of Narin wasn’t a normal serial killer, and therefore normal measures and strategies were never going to work.
She can live with that. Hopefully.
Lane continued walking between the rows of warehouse buildings, turning left from the gravel path and eyeing the transition to the smooth and shiny asphalt beneath her feet. How Poppylan Wilkes had managed to get as far away from that thing as she had last night on her own was a testament to her abilities, Lane wasn’t begrudged to admit that.
Too bad Ms. Wilkes hadn’t used those abilities to get as far away from that troubled heartthrob as she possibly could as well. It was pathetic, really. A handsome face and a few good orgasms was all it had taken for the rising star Detective to trash her entire career and reputation? And now she’s an enemy to the government to boot. And for what? Love?
Silly girl, Lane tsked quietly as she approached the group gathered in the center of the path between the final row of buildings to the Warehouse District. Doesn’t she realize that sometimes love isn’t enough?
No, it isn’t.
Just like it wasn’t enough for Joe to do the right thing. Or for Lane to stay loyal to him. Not anymore, the scum of the city made an even bigger mess than what was necessary, and all for one man who didn’t deserve any of the mercy or kindness shown to him. Because the Tiger of Ares St has never done the same for his victims.
Why does his love get to be enough?
Lane pushed that thought aside along with the image of Joe shooting alongside criminals in a hailstorm and kept walking through the fog to the group, who’s backs were to her. She cleared her throat quietly to announce her arrival once she got 5 feet away from them.
Director Pine turned and stood up from his crouch to face her, the small team he had left parting for him so he could meet her. He looked tired, his dark coat and his suit a little disheveled and his salt and pepper hair mussed from its usual slicked back style. He managed a smile, his firm lips and his perfect teeth displayed for a few moments before he was back to business.
“Detective Lane,” Pine greeted, motioning with his arm to turn left and travel with him down the cross sectioning path in front of his team. They journeyed a distance away from the group in silence, weaving between more buildings before Pine guided her to join him in a small office trailer.
“Are you injured?,” Pine asked as soon as he closed the door behind them, his eyes scanning her body from head to toe.
“No,” Lane replied, “are you?”
“Not at all,” Pine chuckled, “you were right, the Balthuman Clan is indeed different from average thugs. They seem to value information almost as much as I do. I gave them just enough to make them need more, so I’m more valuable to them alive than dead now. As is Dr. Lina.”
Lane nodded, “I’m sorry you lost so many men, I had no idea they were so well prepared.”
“…it was a calculated risk, and a necessary sacrifice,” Pine sighed as he attempted to rake his hair back in place, “what matters is we have everything we need now. Thanks to you. And I am a man of my word, Detective. You can start immediately, if you wish.”
“I do,” Lane nodded, “I can disclose all the mafia hiding spots if you wanted to gather more men-“
“That isn’t necessary,” Pine waved, “the mission hasn’t been accomplished yet and time is running out. What happened last night was an occupational hazard, nothing more.”
There were no NCPD or civilian casualties, that’s all that mattered to Lane. But she will have to learn the work culture of IBI faster than she had anticipated.
“What can I do?” Lane asked.
“Stay alive,” Pine smirked as he reached for the door knob, “and keep me in the loop of all mafia and NCPD happenings. I’ll be in touch, Agent Lane.”
———————————-
Lane watched as Dr. Lina finally transferred that monster’s arm into a case filled with dry ice from where it had lain discarded and forgotten about on the asphalt pathway. Lina was moving with care and precision, but Lane could see her fear and anxiety. Pine could as well, he moved from his spot next to Lane to assist Dr. Lina with closing the case.
“It will be enough,” he murmured, staring deeply into Dr. Lina’s eyes, “just a small cluster of cells, remember?”
“The arm has been detached for some time,” Dr. Lina voiced, “and when they killed the generators… 19 drowned in its stasis tank. We only recovered a few cells from it. This is all theory now!”
“Sir!,” one of his silver suited men huffed up, “we’ve located Daphne, she’s in Rome.”
“Open up a clear channel for her immediately,” Pine clipped as he charged off with three of his men, “inform her she is being reassigned upon extraction. I’ll brief her myself. And get a crew down here to cover this up.”
Lane took Pine’s departure as her cue to get to work. She decided to start gathering intel from NCPD first. Joe was out of the question now, that bridge burned yesterday morning. Lane swallowed the sharp pang in her heart, and picked up her pace to her car, her mind battling her grief over losing Joe with all the reasons why she did the right thing the entire way to her vehicle.
Had Lane had been in the proper mindset, she would have felt the chill up her spine from the primitive place that knows when one is being watched.
Ezekiel decided to remain in his spot behind the brick building diagonal from where the suits were, his black hood from his hoodie pulled low over his eyes. He was supposed to have stayed further away from the gathering to avoid the risk of detection, but even without his talent for stealth he would’ve been ignored. It was one of the few perks of being a teenager, he was invisible to adults.
Civilian adults, specifically. He would never chance getting this close to a mark that was from Ares St., someone lurking in the shadows was always a threat, no matter the age.
He was glad he took the chance with this lot, however. No sooner had Lane and that -sshat left two of the silver suits started making plans to blow off some steam before they left the city. With Master Balthuman incapacitated, Ziek wondered if Young Master Quincey would pay as much as his old man would for this little gem of information. He was sure this new turf war was far from over and that the Balthumans were in desperate need of an advantage.
-End