Crank's Tale:
Spoiler (Click to Show)
Pale as a long dead corpse with shaking hands, he had to fight even to keep conscious, much less hold his aim on Titus. Of the six, only four had told their stories, and the small handgun he clutched already felt like an anvil he was balancing. It seemed like the blood in his arms was oil set ablaze, but he had no choice but to fight the burning anguish. Crimson fluids were leaking out of his gut and he was in desperate need of healing from the possession two people over, but the only way he would get that was by recovering trust. He’d either catch a bullet or bleed to death if he failed to do so. “But ya know what, I’ll follow suit with the rest of ya. I’ll take you through my entire day, just so you get to feel your dam of lies break behind you.”
“So,” He continued, taking a deep inhale, only to cringe as it irritated a lung, causing a pair of coughs to speckle blood on his shoulder, “I don’t know what your cell here was, but mine was my bedroom in my apartment. Nightmares haunted my mind like a poltergeist as I slept on my top bunk. Every night I dreamed my brother’s death, every night I saw him suffer, and every night I saw him die in front of me as I could do nothing.” He paused for a moment as he wiped mouth on his sleeve, but drew his gaze to Haku’s before proceeding, barely catching hers in return. “Believe me when I say there’s nothing as horrible as a child’s scream. But this isn’t even just some child to me. This is my little brother, someone I’d gladly give the world for, give my heart and soul for. Love isn’t a word that’s easy for me to say, but I love him, and it kills me to even think he could be in pain. I have no motive for this. Risking my life here by betraying all of you would keep me from keeping him safe.”
Finally, his eyes left the only girl in the group, traveling from man to man, “But I have every motive for wanting to send the Host to Hell.” His left arm slid off his waist, wiping the blood soaking it onto his pants before returning it, grimacing as the pressure sent a fresh wave of pain through his body. “And like I said,” He finally added, his hazel irises finding Demonic, “I have an alibi.”
“I didn’t even know anyone else was trapped before the Hermit broke me out of my room.” He took a moment to clarify as he switched which hand was clotting his stomach and which was keeping Titus in his iron sights, a weak grin shadowing his mouth when his eyes locked with the man again, “Who he got them from, but he strapped a bomb on my wall and here’s why. Not counting all of you now, there’s a grand total of three people who know the face behind my mask. I’m one of them, and another’s family. That’s why he wanted me in the heist. I’m obscure as a gladiator and unknown as a man. I had the best bet of passing as a guard undercover at the Sub-Center. I may have been young, but so were most of them.”
“The issue was, we didn’t have a uniform for me to slip into at that point, and we didn’t have enough intel for me to wing a lie either,” Rolling his shoulder, Roy’s face contorted as the movement pulsed anguish into his body. Taking a quick glance behind him, he hobbled back, extremely careful not to let his left foot touch the ground as he bit his lip hard to keep the pain inside, “And that’s where Lucario and…” The wounded man’s mind drifted as it suddenly dawned on him that there was still someone in the group he didn’t even have an alias for.
His gaze almost turned damning when it fell on the Crystal Warrior. “You. You both came into play. The two of you were sent out to find an isolated guard because Luke could sense…” His eyes trailed off as he fished for the word, “Aura, was it?”
The question was returned with a nod from the other youth, so after readjusting himself on the wall, Roy continued, “After we all crept out of our prison and you two went off to pick off an isolated watchman at the Center, the Hermit led the rest of us to his house after taking a few of his pain pills.” Giving him a somber moment of silence, his eyes trailed to the fallen man. “I’ll never forget the chance you took to save our lives. Thank you, I only wish you were still here, standing with-” Another cough cut him off, and after blinking a few times, he hoarsely added “us” before continuing with the story. “He explained that we were all actually in a massive dome underwater, and the only way out was to get out hands on a submarine. It was going to be the key to the surface. The issue was, the docks were heavily guarded, and even if we managed to get to a sub, we’d need to get a key from the captain.” Wincing as his arm moved, he pulled his aim off Titus as he dug into his pocket, pulling out what looked like a janitor's set of keys and tossing them in the center of the group. A faint, proud grin crawled up his face as they jingled on the ground.
“Elf, Luke, we were discussing how we were going to get intel out of who you brought back the whole time you were gone. In the end however, we concluded that if good cop bad cop failed he might talk to someone he thought was on his side, and seeing how I already got the undercover job anyway, that had to be me. You must’ve been grilling the kid for an hour or two before I finally got the green light, so I headed into the restroom to make my part a little more believable. I clogged the sink, filled it with water and held my head under until I thought I was going to black out.”
Although Hollywood didn’t mean to, he chuckled a little at what was coming. “But I guess I should’ve warned you I was coming out in just my boxers,” He apologized to Haku, feeling karma radiate in his nerves, “Your face was bright red when I strolled out of there! I’m sorry, I’ll take that as an official my bad.”
“Now, I forget what the official excuse Demonic came up with was, but Titus lobed me into the room like I was a baseball when it was given, so I think that’s fair. Pointy-ears and Luke both left, and while I was vomiting water, our captive started asking me rapid fire questions. I told him you guys picked me up three days ago when I was getting ready for my first day. I was shaking and talking as frantically as possible as I pulled myself upright against the wall. I told him you were going to kill me if I didn’t give you what you needed to know, I said that you stripped me of my uniform and that you’d been waterboarding me for hours to get me to talk.” A tear rolled down his cheek as a grin renewed and expanded, “And that’s how you seal a deal lady and gentlemen. I told him straight up that I just wanted to see my girl one last time before I died, and then he asked me what you asked me. I said you wanted me to give up the keys, but then Titus stormed back into the room.”
Hollywood’s eyes instantly narrowed as they scanned the room, “Which reminds me, who’s bright idea was it for him to shoot me? I don’t care that it worked, that shit hurt like hell! The least you could’ve done was warn me before hand!” Another thought struck him when his eyes hit Haku though. “Did I even thank you for healing it though?” She shook her head. “Oh. Whoops. Sorry.”
“Rumor had it that it worked at least,” Hollywood sighed, his eyes drifting down where the gunshot wound used to be, just above the current bleeding gash. His face contorted as it made him nauseous, “The guy got all defensive for me and blurted we’d never get the keys from the captain and that he cared more about his men than the world around him. They were his family, and he was going to get us for this. Someone said he threw in ‘you bastards’ a few times? It wasn’t much, but it confirmed not everyone knew each other and gave me a way to get close to him.”
“Now, if I remember right, we left him in locked the Hermit’s basement,” He almost sounded like he was asking a question as he observed the group, “But that night, our mutual friend went over the blueprints for the Sub-Center and we discussed the plan. He said he only saw them once, but he never forgot a thing. The whole building was practically a fort at the far end of the dome, guards patrolling it all hours of the day with a huge tower in the dead center. At the top was where the captain’s quarters were, where we’d get out keys.” Hollywood nodded at the ring he tossed in the center of the room, but a cough, harsher than the ones before it buckled his knees and slid him down an inch on the wall before he could comment on it.
He let out a low groan, rubbing his waist and rolling his shoulder as he tried to stabilize himself again. A curse under his breath preceded the rest of what he said. “But while he was in the top, our getaway was down here,” Deadly silent, he had to clear his throat before his voice had any volume at all, “The Hermit warned of palm readers, security cameras, laser systems, and of course the patrols. They were closed circuit within the entire Center though, so if we could get someone to the security they could shut down the system. Someone had to get the keys, and someone had to take them out at practically the same time, otherwise they would be on high alert before we could get those jingly things, or they would hunt and mow us down as soon as we did.”
“And so the teams were made,” Growing out of breath, Hollywood took a minute as he slowly placed his gun in his armpit. Taking a few deep breaths, he felt a prang of pain before reaching into his pocket, pulling out a handful of pills. Rolling them around in his palm he almost looked at them pleadingly, but suddenly his eyes clamped shut and he cupped the pills. Two violent hacks rocked his body, stealing his balance and knocking him on rear as his firearm clanked next to him, thankfully not going off. Moaning as his gaze drifted to his oozing gut, he finally brought the pills to his mouth, biting one in half and swallowing before spitting the rest of it out. “I really wanted to keep that crap outta my system,” He muttered, staying seated as he pocketed the rest, picking his gun back up, “But this is just killing me…
“The original plan was that I was going to go under to get the keys, and then break out the north window where I’d be caught and reunite with Haku and Titus. Demonic, Luke and Elf were going to break into the security room underground with The Hermit,” Hollywood moaned as he shifted, “How you two were convinced to flip is beyond me, but future reference, if the healer of the group is traded between teams keep everyone in freaking the loop. I walked into that tower thinking I was going to get caught by wind and healed when I landed. Seriously guys, what the hell? Not counting our guard’s uniform and the gun it came with, all I brought were scissors and a handful of painkillers.”
“But yeah, I wasn’t aware of the switch,” Hazel eyes glared on Titus, “But I’d bet my ass that was you too, especially because I specifically mentioned I’d probably need to swing by a pharmacy to pick up something to-” Another pair of coughs interrupted him, but he picked right back up as he wiped the blood off his mouth, “Hold me over to Haku. After a good night’s sleep I woke up bright and early to change into the guard uniform and checked the medicine cabinet to try to save myself a trip.” Hollywood tried to stand back up but as agony pierced him like a knife he stopped instantly with a yelp, “Guess I should’ve made it anyway,” He grumbled, “That shit is not helping. After grabbing the scissors from the cabinet and waking you and Haku up, I headed out.”
“I know I’m my own alibi for a bit here, but I never asked you to stay behind and I wouldn’t’ve objected if you walked with me for a bit,” He shrugged, immediately regretting it as a general soreness flared into more of a spike, “But,” Hollywood’s voice cracked and he rubbed his shoulder, his voice returning to its usual deepness as the jolt dulled, “I made it a point to check in periodically. It took me a few hours to get to the tower on account of leaving you guys the car, but I got there without much problem. I got ID’ed at the door, but I got away with not having it by frantically saying I got jumped a few nights ago and it was stolen. I made up an alias on the way there, Jayden Patterson, and I stuck with it. I told the guy at the gate that I had to warn the captain about an assassination plot tonight, that they were planning on using my ID to slip in when they could hide in the darkness. Eventually, he let me in. Granted, he did it when I was down fifty bucks.”
“At that point, the key objective was the lay low until I got to the captain’s quarters. It took some time, but I managed to find the stairs and I started to climb from there. For the record, there was an elevator, but I feel like that would’ve looked a little shady if I was just chilling out with that button up at the top all lit up. A few people I passed asked me why I didn’t just take it, but I said I’ve had the shits all week and I didn’t want to risk it. They let it go. I finally stepped out on the ninth floor and made my way to the bathroom,” Hollywood groaned a curse as he set his gun down beside him, clutching his waist as he sunk lower on the wall. His voice was weak and pathetic as he continued, “I had to make sure it was empty, but once I did, I locked a stall and pulled out my scissors. Does anyone even remember the name of the guy we caught? I’m getting sick of just calling him our guard.”
“Jerry?”
“Thank you. Well I remembered Jerry mentioned there was nothing the captain wouldn’t do for a wounded man… so…” Hollywood’s eyes slowly crept to his front right pocket, either cringing at a memory or his current predicament, “I used the scissors I brought. I must’ve paced around in that stall for about ten minutes before I finally had the guts to draw blood. I was shaking, ya know? I’m not a masochist, it’s not something I’d ever do on my own. The first cut was more of a petrified paper one, so I got goosebumps knowing I’d have to do it again. The second slice was… situationally better? But still nothing serious enough to see the captain. Eventually, after saying a long prayer... I finally managed a real stab.” Hollywood paused for almost a full minute, pulling his hand off his gut, soaking wet in the fresh crimson. Grimacing, he put it back. “It’s still bleeding. I have no problem admitting I fell to the ground screaming, although I forget the curse I used.” Another pause. “Probably the F-bomb.”
“I fired two shots from my gun at the air vent after staggering out,” Hollywood continued, closing his mouth on a few coughs, making his cheeks puff and vocal cords ache with each one. Spitting the accumulated blood in his oral cavity to his left, he tried to pick back up, but another pair caught him by surprize, blasting through his lungs in a sudden explosion of agony. Rubbing his burning throat, he finally forced the quiet, scratchy words, “It had to be real. A guard bolted in the room by the time I got to the door, but all I told him was that I had a dire need to see the captain, refusing to just let him relay the message. The man escorted me there with only a little hesitation, but still bombarded me with questions. He did call for a doctor over his radio though. Half wish I waited for him at his point…”
“There were-” Roy hacked into his shoulder as he tried to clear his throat, but the moment he turned his neck back, another rocked his body, quickly followed by a brutal follow up. Groaning, he set his firearm beside him as he slid further down the wall, practically laying against it. “There were tw-” Yet again a cannon of noise shot from his mouth, only this one had no gap between it and the next. Coughs exploded out of him rapidfire