Chapter 11
As Peter emerged from the wall, he was tossed to the floor by his own chain. He thought of Alex's message. "What the fuck? I thought he only got political when he drank! Why the hell would he be talking about the left at a time like this!?" shouting the words aloud, like many other times. Well, maybe he was just getting out his final words before he kicked the bucket! Responded E.L with his usual quick answer. "No, there had to be some reason for why he said it," Peter said, now crossing his legs to ponder his new situation. Before he could go in depth into his thoughts a hole opened in front of him and out came a guard. Was it the same kind that was at the building last week? No, we've only been doing all of this for about 2 or 3 days. How does it already feel like a week in hell? Peter thought to himself as he was dragged out of the room and into a narrow hallway with fluorescent lights that stung his eyes. When they finally arrived at the end of the hallway, there was an elevator with a hand scanner but it didn't seem to run on fingerprint, there was something else to it. When the soldier placed his hand on the scanner, Peter couldn't see exactly what had occurred but there seemed to be something unnatural about the process. When they entered the elevator it had mirrors on all sides and Peter finally got a good look at what he looked like. He had bags under his bloodshot eyes and his face seemed to have sunken into his skull. "Can't believe I look worse than Alex," he said with a small bit of optimism.
When they had arrived at their destination, wherever it was, it looked almost the same as the S.C.A.R cells but this time he could see that there was indeed a wall and not a bright void. Looking up he could see that the ceiling had a circular window that had Mr. Waker, Lucas, and many scientists observing him with curiosity from above. When Peter saw Lucas in the window all of his anger boiled over and propelled him to scream at his enemy. "LUUUUUUUUUUCAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSS!!!!" he roared with all the hate in the world. "Hey buddy! Good seeing ya', look I'm busy with some other stuff, so uh… I can't play with you right now, but you can play with Mr. Waker for now. Bye!" he said, walking away with a smile on his face, but it felt fake. More and more questions were being given then answers. Then the elevator doors opened again, and out stepped Olivia. She didn't look as bad as Peter, which was the only upside that he could think of in this situation. "Peter! Thank God you're alive! I thought they were going to kill us!" She said as life was breathed back into her, simply seeing Peter. "Same, but now we have other stuff to deal with," Peter said as he watched a small hole open in the glass roof and Mr. Waker fell through.
He landed with a small but audible thump, as Peter and Olivia recognized that his Gauntlet had taken in the force of the fall, with it glowing purple around his chest. "Commencing test 1 of 3," he said with the usual commanding voice he had in the office. When the guards heard him, they all, in unison, let go of their captives and walked back until their backs were against the wall. "Mr. Waker, why are you here? How does any of this have to do with you? Did you always plan on trying to kill us?" Olivia questioned because she knew that this wasn't the Mr. Waker she knew. He was a strict but often funny man. He was constantly making sure everyone did what they had to do and not push themselves over too much. He wanted the best for everyone but had a great sense of duty when it came to what was needed. How could he have let something like this happen? When Mr. Waker listened to his former employee, a great feeling of struggle came over his face before he said, "Obsidian is the sharpest rock known to man that is found naturally,". Slowly, he summoned his spear of obsidian, but something about it looked different. The edges seem sleeker, and the obsidian gleamed brighter with its dark purple aura. Seeing this, Peter and Olivia instinctively summoned their Gauntlets, sensing something was off.
The tiled floor then began to morph into an interaction, complete with cars, buildings, and people, but none of them had any color. They were all a bright white like the snow in the Himalayas. Before Peter or Olivia could take in their new surroundings, Mr. Waker had already disappeared from the sidewalk. The two quickly got back to back to ensure they could see whatever attack he had planned, but what wasn't planned was them seeing a car get cut in half before their very eyes. Obsidian is the sharpest rock known to man… Is that what he said? Thought Olivia. Can he cut through anything? When they had first encountered Mr. Waker, he was holding back against them, and now he was showing his true prowess. "This is why they sent him after us first. He was the strongest they had," said Peter, letting his despair spill out of his mouth and contaminate the street. Duck! Yelled E.L in his mind as Peter quickly complied with the command and forced himself and Olivia to the ground. Above them, he saw the air be sliced, and it smelled like the sensation of burning, not anything specific, just burning. The two then bolted from their position and ran in two different directions. Peter, behind an Amazon delivery truck, and Olivia, behind an SUV, neither of them dared to move.
"How are we supposed to do anything against an ability like that?" Peter whispered before realizing what he had just done. He then saw a hole appear on his right before it became a slash that dashed towards him with blinding speed. He backstepped but saw that he was still going to get sliced, so he raised his blade in an act of desperation and saw it get torn in half, and he was sent flying. Olivia could only watch in horror as Peter bounced off a taxi and into a Starbucks across the street. Come on, Olivia, think of something already! The bastard is probably on his way here right now! Ruby Queen urged Olivia. Then, an idea came. She looked around frantically for something, and when she found it, she quickly ripped it out of the person's hand and ran towards the taxi Peter bounced off of. "Come on over, you cheap son of a bitch, I'm ready when you are!" she said with a small bit of craziness.
When Peter had gotten up from the counter, he was covered in coffee and one very dead fake barista who was unlucky enough to be working there. He quickly got up and tried to summon his sword, but when he did, all that appeared was the broken hilt and a pile of what was once the blade. "Well shit…guess I'm using the gun now," Peter disliked the idea of using his revolver since he wasn't very confident with using it(seeing as he had only used it once) but he didn't have a choice in the matter. He leapt out the window and before he even touched the ground, an explosion through him back into the Starbucks. This time when he got up he was now next to Olivia. "Haha! It worked! I hit the guy directly so now you can see where he is!" Olivia cheered as she got up with Peter to see the street in chaos. Just before Peter had gotten up Olivia lured out Mr. Waker to attack her and when he did she threw the object she had gotten from the person on the street onto the open gas tank. The lighter lit the car and the explosion sent Mr. Waker into a car across the street and bloodied his right leg. Olivia was unfortunately caught in the blast but but only her arm had received any major injuries
When Peter and Olivia walked out of the Starbucks, they saw a blood stain moving in the air and now knew where he was. Peter drew up his revolver and fired three shots right above the bloodstain. Two shots pierced the air and sent the bloodstain flying back into the car it had just gotten up from. The third shot however, was deflected by the obsidian spear. Peter prepared to fire a fourth and final shot when Mr. Waker appeared where the bloodstains were. He was heavily injured with shrapnel from the explosion in his leg and two holes in his shoulders, but even with all this damage, he raised his spear and yelled, "Cloud the truth, Obsidian Guard!". He then threw the spear but before it left his hand, it turned invisible! Peter couldn't tell where it would land, and E.L yelled Get out of the way! NOW! He quickly leapt out of the way, but it ripped through his shoulder and soared toward Olivia. Olivia didn't have enough time to get out of the way as she was too injured from the explosion and her leg was cut clean off.
Peter slumped against a lamp post and heard the screams of Olivia. Hearing this made Peter's blood boil, and he was prepared to shoot Mr. Waker when he said, "Don't! If you kill me, she'll die! She's bleeding out fast and if you don't heal her now she will die! Please! I won't attack you while you heal her!" His words seemed genuine like the old Mr. Waker Peter knew. "Why should I trust you? You betrayed me before so why should I trust you now?" "Because I never wanted you to die! I had orders but they weren't to kill you! Please, I don't want you guys to die," Mr. Waker said now with tears forming in his eyes. Peter didn't have time to think about what Mr. Waker said and dashed towards Olivia. He stabbed one of the bullets into her wound and saw her leg regrow in about 10 minutes and in all of that time Mr. Waker did nothing but watch with a look of happiness in his eyes. When Olivia was finally healed Mr. Walker simply said "test 1 of 3…finished…status report: I got fucking washed…," and collapsed on to the road.
Peter picked up Olivia's unconscious body and thanked the man who saved their lives. Then the simulation ended and all that remained was him, Olivia, and the body of a man who couldn't control his decisions. The soldiers who had patiently waited at the elevator door in their makeshift trance finally looked up and surrounded Peter and Olivia and a voice came from all of the soldiers at once "Go with the soldiers slowly and let them take care of Olivia. If you resist they will open fire and you already can't move very well." said the voice, but none of the mouths of the soldiers moved. Peter obliged, seeing as he didn't even heal himself since he was so worried about Olivia. He handed her over, but his worry was lessened because he knew that he would see her again. Commencing test 1 of 3, he remembered it from before, during the beginning of the battle. He was glad that Olivia was safe, but remembered that they were never really safe when they were trapped here in the jaws of Ouroboros.
When Peter was taken back to his S.C.A.R. cell, he was placed in the same chains as before, but this time he was given a seat that was formed from the room itself. The soldier who accompanied him here pressed a button that created a table, and he placed a tray of food in front of him. The food looked very appetizing and consisted of lo mein noodles mixed with shrimp and a side of pork dumplings. Peter hadn't realized how hungry he was until then, and tried to lift his hands to grab the chopsticks next to the tray, but he was still chained. Then walked in a researcher in a slightly dirty lab coat and…slippers? The young woman with round glasses, light blue nails, puffy hair, and a green, oversized T-shirt didn't seem particularly interested in what was happening as she stared at the tablet in her hands
"Hey, I'm going to have my lunch with you today, so here's a treat that not many get to have," she said, finally putting down the tablet after pressing something that caused Peter's chains to loosen. He immediately grabbed the chopsticks and began to devour the meal in front of him. The researcher, a little startled at the voracity with which he ate, pulled out her own utensils, and the soldier placed her food in front of her. She had a bowl of ramen and a Dr. Pepper with her, which Peter took very good notice of.
"I can get you one if you want," she said, seeing him eye the carbonated beverage.
"*BURB* yes please," he said, not really thinking about anything but food. When she signaled for another drink on her tablet, a soldier emerged from the door and handed one to her, and she placed it in front of Peter. For the next 20 minutes, neither of them spoke and (somewhat) quietly ate their food in peace. The conversation that proceeded was a very interesting and eye-opening experience for both participants.