Paradisio Mortem

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"Next right."

Owen moved down the passage gun raised, his movements fluid, his eyes watching every door. Vance way his backup, following him through the passages that crisscrossed the upper floors.

"Left here its just..."

He stopped talking. Ahead it looked like the Corridor was walled off, by a wall of huge men. "Shit."

Wordlessly they approached. Shiny steel batons coming up as they saw the two. These men were huge and the fact that they remained silent could only mean one thing. They were under Legato's mind tricks.

Owen raised his gun and fired eight shots strait at them. They never flinched even then the shots managed to pierce their thick armor. They were imune to pain. Legato's guard dogs.

Owen grabbed Vance's shoulder an pulled him close hissing into his ear. "Go back, take the first right and go strait three times then right again. Look for the door closest to the corner. Rika will be in there, get her out of here. I can take these assholes."

He knew he couldn't.

"Legato's lapdogs come out to play. I guess we all have a price to pay."

Dropping the gun he drew his remaining knife and looked at his reflection in the blade as the brutes bore down on him.

"Just get me close enough to Legato and I'll do the rest." he whispered before fixing his eyes on the first of them.

"Lets finish this..."
 


It was too easy. Of course it was too fucking easy! Everything was always saved for last, right? Once more Owen and Vance were in the elevator, blood smeared the floors, but it was hard to tell really whose blood it was at this point. Vance was sure neither of them really cared. This was almost over, soon he'd be with Rika again and they'd escape this hell hole. Maybe even venture outside Paradisio's walls to the wastes beyond. It couldn't be much worse than here, right? If the situation wasn't bad enough, the elevator music was at this point...DING! Vance's hands gripped the remaining weapons he had left as he waited, expecting another barrage to engulf them, but there was none waiting there when the doors opened. Adrenaline and the thought of being with Rika fuled him as Vance simply took off, Owen's directions already engraved in his mind.

Right...first left...fourth door on the right...

As luck would have it, though the 'force' wasn't there to greet them with open arms when the elevator doors opened, they were certainly on their way. They were well on their way and almost there when their luck came back once more. Vance was ready to take the men on, but Vance felt Owen pull him close and whisper in his ear. Rika..."Rika" he whispered and simply nodded. Owen chose his path, now Vance needed to finish his. As per the directions, he doubled back and b egan to follow the directions given.

He didn't run into too much trouble along the way. A few individuals tried to get in his way, but he simply plowed them over with whatever he had: gun, knives, syringes, brute power...Rika. Finding the door he pushed the door open...


...Rika had been taken to her room after being slightly patched up by the doctors. Legato had her locked up in there, and try as she might she couldn't leave. Something made her want to stay, a sort of safety. Though this was Angel's old room...Rika felt safe in it. It was the only place she ever did. Alarms and gunshots were heard everywhere it seemed and the building shook. She was starting to lose hope as she moved to the dresser drawer and pulled out the gun that had been hidden there for so long. Angel had told her of its hiding place in great secrecy.

Running her fingers over the intricate designs in the handle, she stood by the window looking out at Paradisio below with a sad expression. Tears were in her eyes as she raised the gun to her head and closed her eyes, "I'm sorry Vance" she whispered softly preparing to pull the trigger. Before she could teh door behind her was thrown open as she turned quickly by reflex. Her eyes widened and she almost DID pull the trigger by pure surprise. Vance met her gaze as she dropped the gun and ran to his side. "Vance!!! Oh my god Vance!!!" she threw her arms around him as she felt the warmth of his body. It took her a moment to take in his features as she kissed him over and over, running her fingers through his hair in disbelief, "Vance..."

Vance only smiled as he embraced Rika close. Finally they were together, and everything would turn out alright. Stepping inside, he quickly closed the door and locked it. While she looked him over he was busy examining her. The bruises, cuts, scars...Legato had did a number on her. He felt a sharp pain of anger burst through him, but kept it under wraps with Rika there. It didn't matter anymore, the bastard would get what was coming to him one way or another. "I told you'd I'd come back for you. I will never let them hurt you Rika" Vance said kissing her. Rika only pulled back with a childish smile as she nodded her head, "You're too hurt...we need to get you out of here" she said helping him stand as she tried to decide the safest exit. Footsteps were heard outside coming toward them...
 
View attachment 7986Legato's personal guards, their faces as solid as carved stone, marched like trained soldiers towards Owen. The ex cutter fired his weapon, but the bullets didn't seem to phase the guards. They were like machines, programed to do a job. Their eye's set on Owen, expressionless and hollow. It would have been easy enough to arm them with guns, but Legato liked the intimidation factor, plus he wanted Owen alive, badly beaten, but nonetheless alive. They attacked in painfully accurate unison, each blow hitting its mark. In the hallway the blows sounded like dull explosions, occasionally a deep crunch was heard, indicating bone being broken. They paid special attention to his lower back and sides, kidneys and liver. This would disable him, Incapacitate his body and leave him in a world of pain. With every strike, the dim lights shone off the steel batons, reflecting shards of light on the the ceiling and walls. Then, just as the attack had started, they all stopped at once. Their eye's scanning over Owen's body, appraising him like a person might appraise a wounded animal. The job was half complete. One of the burly guards grabbed Owen by the back of his neck and shirt, then proceeded to drag him down the hall towards the elevator that would take them to the top floor, Legato's office. A trail of blood from his body marked their path.

In his office, Legato was staring out over Paradisio. The city, his city. All these ungrateful fucks had no idea what he had gone through to create it, to make it the thriving metropolis that it was today. The sacrifices he had endured mirrored it's current state, flashy and well organized, but just under the surface, gritty and and unstable.

Legato had set his weapon down and was now sipping aged brandy in an ice filled glass when the the buzzer to his door sounded. He looked at the camera screen and saw his guards, with none other than Owen in tote. All of the sudden his night had gotten much better, and he was filled with an over whelming surge of joy. He finished his drink in one, long and savoring, sip. He enjoyed it as much as a man might enjoy the last drink given to him before death.

He opened the door and let the guards in. With his head, he motioned them to put Owen's crumpled body into a wooden backed chair that sat by the huge window over looking the city. Legato wondered if he was conscious? He hoped so, he wanted Owen to hear every word he had to say before making the last few moments of his life a living hell.

"Owen, my faithful servant, can you hear me?"

His words were sarcastic and mocking. The guards lined up on either side of Owen as Legato spoke.

"You've been such a good boy to me, harvesting organs for me, doing my bidding whenever I asked, and that killing…"

Legato paused, a look of mocking question wrinkled on his face

"What was her name? I can't for the life of me seem to remember. The one I used like a rag doll then discarded like a piece of trash."

He snapped his fingers, as if he had just remembered. the venom fueled sarcasm in his voice almost palatable now

"Angle sweet! That was her name. You'll have to forgive me, sometimes it is hard to keep track of small details. But I really did enjoy her company, the things she used to do for me, you have no idea. If she didn't have to die, I would have felt sorry for whoever had her after me. I swear, I never have been so rough with any of my lovers as I was with her."

He mused, letting his voice carry into the ears of Owen.

"But I guess, for a dog like yourself, feeding on table scraps isn't anything new, is it Owen? And just like a well trained dog, when I said kill, you killed. Good boy."

He patted Owens head, then looked at his hand as if it were covered in shit.

"Disgusting"

Legato rose up before Owen now, looking down on him, his nose turned up, a sickened look on his face.

"Now the only question left is what to do with you?"
​
 
Owen had embedded his knife in the first one's throat and and he had still beaten the cutter down. The handle hunt there like a macabre growth as the gorilla of a man dragged Owen through the corridor. He couldn't move his legs and his world was awash with hair. The brightly lit building swan in and our of focus as he was the red trail they were leaving behind.

Whose blood was that? Whoever it was they had to be dead.. there was a lot... and endless red line...

"Owen"

His name...

"Owen.. my love.." He saw her... dressed in white. But she never wore white. She always said it was too 'pure'...

"Angel sweet..."

The name brought him back to the surface and Legato's triumphant face. He was talking about her. Gloating, his words sunk through the pain and deep within Owen felt the hatred he held for Legato stir.

He spat, saliva and blood falling to Legato's carpet.

"You don't have to do anything." He could sense Legato's anger rising and felt the blow but it added little to the pain he was already in and Owen chuckled.

From somewhere Legato pulled a gun, a gun Owen knew enough about to know it cost more than Owen have made his entire time working at Neocore. But Owen still chuckled. He knew whose blood was in the halls, he knew who was dead. he knew because she had told him.

"Its you.."

Her humming washed over him, or was it Owen that was humming her favorite song? Who knew, did it matter? Coughing up blood Owen undid the clasp holding his armor closed at the front and it fell open, three bright of plastic explosives coming into view, his hand covered in his own blood fumbling the detonator. He was delirious and so weak he couldn't keep his eyes focused but he smiled the humming filling his mind and vibrating in his chest Angel sweets soft voice calling him home.

"You die..."





White light.
 



Rika looked up forlornly at her brother. Their bonds were deeper than mere brother and sister, that was obvious. They'd been through a lot in their years alive, and she knew this was really nothing. Just another day in Paradisio. All their time spent together. Neglected by parents, no friends, just one another. That's all they'd ever known. The footsteps got closer as the siblings stood in their pathetic state. One losing blood, the other beaten and bruised. Battered creatures of a forgotten world. How different they once seemed so long ago. At one point in their life they might have been regarded as regal. Now nothing more than rags.

They watched as the door bowed while the enemies tried to break through. Vance's eyes were trained on the door with a ferocity like no other. He loomed over Rika with a stern warrior appearance. Her guardian angel. She could see the wings of his determination extending and preparing to wrap around her. Protect her. That was all that mattered to him now. Rika's eyes drew up to Vance's face as she took in every minute feature of the one she loved so much. Finally, his gaze draws down to her. they both know that they've come to the end finally. Though this may not be the Paradise that was promised, perhaps the next life will be.

Rika picked up the gun she'd dropped, unknown to her that it was a gift from Owen to Angel, and Vance drew whatever weapon he had left. Gazing at one another, they interlaced their free hands and prepared to stand their ground. Really there was only one exit option, and neither wanted to use that quite yet. There was the sound of splintering as the door bowed on its hinges and a final crash as it came tumbling down. In an instant, their hands separated as Rika opened fire and Vance charged forward at the onslaught of guards. One of the guards threw in a smoke grenade as the room filled with the white fog, obscuring vision and creating quite the frenzy. Gunfire flew every which direction. Vance managed to gut a nearby DP as he took up the fallen's gun and opened fire, a war cry escaping his lips.

Blood splattered against the walls as the chaos continued. At one point, Vance and Rika found themselves back to back, pushed to the entrance of the balcony, bullets spraying them and blood falling. All this felt like an eternity, but really all happened in mere moments. Their strength diminishing, the siblings stood strong until the end. Suddenly the building shook as a great heat radiated beneath their feet, and a roar overtook the building. Sirens...she heard them blaring, like in her dream. The ground was crumbling beneath her as the bullets continued to spray. Suddenly the ground gave as she felt strong arms wrap around her, and her world began to spin in and out of darkness. Yet her vision stayed clear. Her eyes set upon Vance who stared deeply back at her. Their pain, their blood, their misery, their joy...one. Rika wrapped her arms around her guardian angel, just as in her dream, and waited for the end to come...

For her, this had all been for her. He would give his LIFE for her if he needed to. She was all that he had left, all that he every wanted and dreamed of! Finally they were together again as it should be. His life, his love, his protection. The bullets ripped through his already mangled body, and it was a miracle that either of them was still alive. In a world of such imperfection...she was the one perfect thing in his eyes. As the enemy broke through the door, they prepared for their final stand. Already Vance was fading in and out but the pure adrenaline and determination to protect Rika kept him going, kept him alive. When the ground suddenly began to shake beneath them, Vance did the only thing he could think of. He moved in to protect Rika at all costs. The heat was rising and the world was spinning around him. Images of their childhood and precious times together flooded his mind as he wrapped his arms around Rika. One last look, one last embrace. "I love you, Rika...we will always be together" he spoke, but wasn't sure if the words were even made. It didnt' matter, he knew she knew what he was saying. With Rika in his arms, he closed his eyes and waited for the darkness to come...
 
0.1
Legato's eyes bulged almost comically when he saw the plastic explosive, enough to level the building, he imagined. His hands fell limply to his sides as he noticed two things about Owen. One, he had the detonator gripped in a bloody hand, and two his eyes showed no fear of death.

0.2
His lips pursed, becoming a thin line across his face. Heavy gouges of wrinkles appeared on his forehead. His face was screwed up as if someone inserted a screwdriver into some hidden screw in his temple and began to tighten it. He froze like that. He looked like a monster, a true representation of the man that had created this hell.

0.3
His guards, in some sort of last ditch effort, began to move towards the door. The rustle of their heavy jackets could be heard, but to Legato it sounded far off. In fact, he was no longer aware of anything, save for Owen and himself.

0.4
Legato looked into Owen's eyes, but then…

0.5
His finger Was on the button. Legato didn't have time for any more thought. Owen had imposed a fate much worse than death on Legato, he had taken away his control of the situation. For the ruler of Paradisio this was much worse than death, and it would be his last conscious realization.

0.6
Heat. In this millisecond Legato could feel the skin on his face go taunt as the smell of burning flesh filled his nostrils.

0.7
Light. His last vision was a light that seemed brighter than the sun, then his eye's melted into his skull and then there was nothing more to see.

0.8
Pain. Many people assume that standing within spitting distance of high power explosive would yield a quick, painless death. Legato felt his body, every ounce of fiber, being incinerated. His teeth and jaw bone detached hitting the back of his throat and in this fraction of a second he tasted blood.

0.9
Nothing. As his body was ripped from the mortal world, flesh being burnt from bone, bone being ripped from flesh. Legato knew no more.

0:01
And then there was death.
 
Something strange about choosing death. There is no fear, only peace.

There was nothing but whiteness around him. He was still sitting though there was nothing for him to be sitting on. When he stood his feet felt as if there was solid ground underneath them but when he looked down he was nothing, not even his own shadow. He also saw something else. His wounds, his uniform, both gone. His hand was still clasped around the detonator and he held it out at arm's length and dropped it.

It fell past where logic told him the ground should be an kept falling, on and on until it was lost from view. Blood from the detonator beaded up in the bottom of his hand and dropped too falling down after the detonator.

One.

Two.

Splat.

"You made it."

Owen turned and there before him stood his angel. She was not as she had been, but stood before him free of the scars and strains of Legato's tyranny. His skin soft pure unblemished white, his lips softly forming a smile. This was her as she was meant to be.

"I kept you waiting."

"I would wait for you longer but you're here so..."

"He can be together... like we always said. Hes gone, its just us now."

As one they stepped forwards and met in the middle his hand cupping her cheek as their lips met. This was not the vengeful woman made of blood or the battered and bruited girl seeking mutual comfort under Legato's rule.


This was pure love.

This was their escape together.

Like they always said.
 
They were flying together. Rika felt Vance's arms wrap around her and could hear him whisper those soft words into her ear. Tears fell from her eyes as she reached back for him, and closed her eyes. Her dream from what seemed like so long ago returned once more to her--

Alone in this dying world a young girl cries while cradled in the arms of her guardian angel. Broken and smeared in blood, so exposed to the cruelties of reality, she clings to her angel out of fear. Darkness begins to encroach upon her, ripping apart her guardian angel, but she holds on tight. As the guardian's body shreds in half with a sickening crunching and ripping noise, blood and feathers fly forward and stain the girl's face. She stares with fearful eyes upon the Red Death as it reaches its skeletal hand toward her mortal flesh. Frozen in terror she can just sit there, helpless, until the skeletal hand grabs hold of her small wrist. A shocking cold shoots up her arm and a horrible fear wraps around her very soul...But her guardian angel, this time, reaches forth with the last of his will and wraps his entirety around her, shielding her with comforting warmth. The darkness fades, and she accepts this as the end. As long as she has her guardian angel, nothing else mattered, she could be at peace--


In her last moments, she opened her eyes to look upon Vance, the heat already bearing down upon them. "I love you" she whispered as the two were swept away into eternal darkness...


The explosion ripped through Legato's strong hold of power. The grounds below shook from the force as the empire literally crumbled away. Fire erupted in the skies as debris fell on the shocked spectators below. Various equipment and body parts were also seen flying from the heavens above. Already news crews were covering this momentous occasion, just as Angel Sweet's death had been instantly the rage. All throughout Paradisio radios were flipped on and tv's blared to life...

Homes. Hidden hives. Deep laboratories. Drug houses. Everywhere and everyone would be informed of this moment in time...

"We're here at ground zero where the crumbling remains of our late Legato Giovanni's empire begins to settle. No one has any idea what took place within these walls, but one thing is for sure. Survivors...are unlikely. There is no trace of Legato himself. I repeat, to all of Paradisio, there is no trace of Legato. What will happen to our city without our 'beloved' leader? Was this a terrorist attack? We will keep you posted on--"


"This is a sad day indeed. We have just been informed that the HQ of our beloved leader, Legato Giovanni, has come under attack from within. Details are scant, but we are unsure of the true damage this has done. we shall forever mourn this day in Paradisio--"


"The empire has fallen! The empire has fallen! Legato has finally gotten what has long since been waiting for him! No longer do we have to hide in fear of our lives every second! Come free! Come out! Join me and celebrate this occasion!! We are free! We are free--"

The news reports continued to pile out in all shapes and forms. As if on cue, more people were crowding in the streets. Those who had long since been in hiding were starting to carefully emerge. The DP and Cutters who were not within the confines of the building stopped in their tracks at the explosion, unsure what to do now without their leader. Spectators continued to gather around in awe, picking through the rubble out of curiosity perhaps. Bodies were found, or rather body parts. It was a mixture of debris, body organs, random odds and ends, charred remains, and severed body parts with blood trickling still from the fresh decapitation.

From one pile of rubble, two hands were seen sticking out. Their fingers interlaced as if in a tender last embrace to stay together. Bystanders began to dig through the rubble to find out whom the victims were. Legato's tyrannical reign had finally come to an end. It was as if some dark spell had been lifted from Paradisio and a sigh of new relief swept through the city. The fat lady began to sing at the opera. It was over, but that meant a new era could begin...

 
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