It begins!

  x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

  “Chatterbox is here,” there was no hiding it. The shit was naturally going to be skulking about when Marian was in the area. It was almost predictable, as easily as thunder following lightning.

  “Can't say that's much of a surprise,” Anis scowled, seeming to follow my line of thought. He seemed to see Marian as his boss.

  “At least we have plenty of additional firepower!” Neon grinned, patting the satchel on her back. I was a bit less confident on whatever the eggheads managed to cook up. But given repeated run-ins with the Tyrant class Rapture had given Syuen something to work with.

  I didn’t like it, but now wasn't the moment for spite. It was better to have it, even if it underperformed. He wasn't making a beeline for us yet, but that was only a matter of time. We would fight Chatterbox again.

  The only reason I was even halfway confident about that, what, third round with the asshole was not the equipment on our backs, but the ace in the hole up Johnson's sleeve. Snow White. While the Pilgrim didn't have the best track record when it came to keeping the bastard pinned, she still did more damage to him than anyone else.

  If nothing else, she could hold him up and keep him distracted while we carried out the rest of the mission.

  This was big. Very big. Probably the biggest operation the Ark put together for some time. Every company was taking part, even in part. Multiple big name squads had been brought forward.

  Matis wasn't among them. Drake and Laplace were naturally out of commission. Someone raised the idea of attaching Maxwell to another squad, but the look they got from Syuen made it a miracle they didn't explode. It almost came across that Syuen was being protective of the last standing member of the squad.

  Not that I blamed her. I got revenge. I understood spite. Anger could help, but it frequently is just as much of a detriment in a combat situation. If not more so. It was better for Maxwell's mental and physical wellbeing for her to stay away from the battlefield for a hot minute.

  Wardress on the other hand? Was partaking in the operation. Syuen couldn't get away with sending nobody, and with Matis out of commission, she pulled out the next best thing. They were working alongside Cafe Sweety and Absolute in bringing down the hive complex.

  “It's still impressive that no one can figure out how you do that,” Shifty commented as I shrugged. At least he wasn't hiding his presence this time. Made things simpler that way.

  “Is there any reason why they just don't pull out and let the roof drop on their heads? That should clear out their numbers,” Anis shouted, a grenade round exploding a collection of Raptures. We weren't even close to where the fighting was at its thickest.

  This time, we had truly kicked the hornets' nest. Raptures were spilling out of just about every entrance. They were dying in mass, the chokepoints playing to our advantage. But if their strategy was to run us out of bullets? I could honestly see that particular outcome.

  “Marian would come up to the surface at that point. Unless we have eyes on her, we can't guarantee she won't ambush you,” Shifty said, with the noise leaving Anis’s mouth being a sign she didn't like the reasoning. I didn't blame her, but at the same time?

  If she got Johnson, killed him while we were distracted? With our only Vapaus bullet? Then this was all for nothing. And I refuse to have all of this be for nothing. We had one important target on the radar. But we had to get both known. Otherwise, we could be in trouble.

  “We should be killing more,” Neon commented, a shotgun blast smashing in whatever the Rapture equivalent of a face was. We weren't facing as much stiff resistance, nowhere near as much as I feared. But we were on the battlefield, and that made us a target.

  “We need to conserve our ammunition,” the little gasp that came from Neon's mouth made it clear how much of a heresy she considered Rapi's words. “We need everything that we can to get to Marian.”

  Getting Marian into a position where we could free her would take a lot. And we wouldn't have Snow White helping us either.

  “We cannot fail. If that means holding off on ammunition, then so be it,” that got a nod from everyone as the ground began to quake.

  “Detonations have started. Elite squads have begun to pull back,” Shifty said. The detonations themselves meant one single thing. Somebody had eyes on Marian. “Absolute is currently engaging. Other squads are moving in to support.”

  At least it was a competent squad engaging Marian until we got there. They better not die on us.

  My fingers gripped my rifle hard enough that they could have gone white. That meant phase two was a go. Phase two was fundamentally simple.

  Get too Marian, and don't let a single thing stand in our way.

  “Begin encounter,” Johnson said firmly. It was easy to see it in his eyes. The intensity. The fire. He was just as fired up as the rest of us, focused on the single objective.

  I'd already line up a shot. Several shots. Forming a wedge, we quickly began to smash through the enemy resistance. Supporting fire covered us, killing Raptures and leaving.

  “Chatterbox?” Johnson asked, his gaze something I could feel, almost like being burned by a hot stove.

  “Closing, but not rapidly,” I answered. It would take him too long to get here if he was trying to run an intercept course. Was he hedging his bets? Or did he have something up his sleeve?

  Another quake went through the area. None of us stumbled, but Shifty's voice did not bring welcome news.

  “A large number of signatures are heading your way. It seems like more survived the destruction than we thought.”

  Or it was a reserve force, or anything else. Chatterbox was smart enough to do that. He wouldn't show his face unless he could avoid it, I think.

  Already, more and more Raptures were digging their way out of the ground, growing from a sizable swarm to a carpet of machines. What was already a decent pace was quickly slowing to a crawl. For every Rapture we blasted to pieces, there were another three to take its place. Even with fire support, this wasn't looking good.

  “Another object coming in at high speed!” Shifty shouted as I looked up, hoping to try and snipe out the new incoming threat.

  Honk! Honk!

  Why was there a train horn going off up here?

  The source surged upward over the hill, plowing through Raptures like it was a god damn battering ram!

  “That is Infinity Rail,” Rapi's voice was something I barely heard over the gunfire, but it held a twinge of surprise. Infinity Rail was going to be part of the operation, but why the hell are they showing up in a train? With a crash, the train turns a Rapture into a projectile, sending it through its own ranks.

  “All aboard!” I was only passingly familiar with Infinity Rail and its members. But a very pretty young lady with yellow amber eyes and long brown hair was offering a helping hand?

  Don't ask questions.

  “Counters, please swiftly get on board,” another voice came over the loudspeaker, calm and collected.

  I didn't need to be told twice. Looking gift horses in the mouth was not worth it in this situation!

  “What even is this thing?” Anis shouted as I helped pull her up, moving inside as the train began to pick up speed again. The train rattled and rumbled. Each shift being another Rapture killed. And it was shifting a lot.

  “This ‘thing’ is the AZX,” oh, I could tell Diesel liked this train, based on how she almost seemed to snap at the this in Anis’s words. “It's a train designed to operate on the surface. We hadn't gotten a chance to put it through its paces yet. But this operation is the best opportunity we've had and will likely get. We had to bother our superiors a lot to bring it up here, but.”

  I had no idea how resource efficient this was. But sometimes military equipment wasn't about how efficient it was, but how good it was at getting its job done.

  “Still seems a bit too bumpy to be a smooth ride for me,” Anis complained, almost causing me to miss a single word.

  “Brace!” I was able to set myself as a chain of explosions caused the train car to shake violently.

  “Brid! Be more careful!” The shortest of the three with long white hair shouted towards the front.

  “Sorry. A Lord Class Rapture decided to be a speed bump,” the same voice came over the intercom again.

  “Yes! The AZX has all the firepower!” Well, it was clear Neon approved. But that did bring a question to my mind.

  “Does the AZX have any guns?” That was an important question. We were going pretty fast, and there was no way this train didn't have a lot of mass behind it. But if the only thing the AZX could do was serve as a massive battering ram? “At least l now know what the crew of the USS New York felt running over a submarine.”

  “Yeah, what stopping us from getting surronded?” Anis brought up another good question. Sure, we had the kinetic energy, but things came to a stop eventually. What was stopping the Raptures from just, drowning us in bodies? “And how do you run over a submarine?”

  I gave a sign for later, it was a hilarious story, but now wasn't the time for it.

  “The AZX's armor is made up of thirty percent Goddessium. The only way we stop is if we want to stop,” Diesel answered proudly, as I started to run math in my head. “And of course we have additional guns!”

  I couldn't. Physics was not one of my stronger suites. All I needed to know was that the Ark was hopefully deploying the same logic behind depleted uranium rounds.

  Sometimes, the only solution is to shoot someone with a very dense rock. Or alloy, in this case. But having extra defenses is nice.

  “We have some kind of weirdo coming up behind us on our six o'clock,” our driver said. And sure enough, there was another train, closing rapidly. Oh please, do not tell me the Raptures also had a train. Why? Why would they make a train!

  “It's giving off a Tyrant class Rapture signature,” Shifty said, cementing my fears into reality.

  “Fasinating! I've never seen a Rapture train before. What could it be used for?” Oh no, this lady is like me back when Thomas the Tank Engine was my special interest. I don't even think she noticed that it was pointing its very numerous weapon systems at us.

  “Engage,” Johnson nodded, as the doors began to open so we could shoot at the damn thing. He quickly gave me a single.

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  “Closer, but following at a distance. I don't think he saw this coming,” then again, neither did I. Johnson gives me a confident nod, as I turn to step outside, putting a few rounds into the missile launchers.

  The resulting explosions were good news. Everyone else was already tearing into the train Rapture, gunshots punching through metal.

  “Anyone got any ideas on how to kill this thing?” Anis shouted, making use of the cover while Rapi destroyed one of the machine guns.

  “Clearing the weapons on its back should limit the damage it can do to us and the AZX. Keep them suppressed,” Rapi said, the roar of the AXZ's defense weapons coming to life. A hail of bullets, far larger than anything we fired, began tearing into it.

  Was about as good a plan as any. I joined in the barrage, trying to aim for weak points, including the massive turret on its back, before I noticed something. It was getting. Closer?

  “Brace! Brace now!” I shouted moments before the train slammed into the AZX, side to side. Metal screamed against metal, grinding and tearing through armor on both sides.

  An explosion near the front of the enemy train causes it to veer off, jittering as if dazed. Once they could, the AZX's weapon systems resumed firing. The weapons were devastating, the Rapture train slowly starting to break apart. It tumbled, twisting to the side before slowly grinding to a stop. By the time it finished, it was a speck in the distance.

  “Is it me, or does it seem to be shaking even more than before?” Anis asked, holding onto the railing for dear life.

  “Passengers of the AZX, please do not be alarmed, but our directional control systems have taken heavy damage. We will go off course if we try to continue to take you to your destination,” the voice came back over the intercom, the AZX starting to slow down. “We will have to begin disembarking ahead of schedule.”

  Well, that wasn't good. But we were far enough away from the Rapture horde we should be fine.

  “But what happens to Infinity Rail without the AZX?” Rapi asked, voicing the next thought to come to my mind. Without the train, they'd be sitting ducks!

  “We can repair them in transit! It'll just take too long, so this is the closest we can get,” Diesel's voice came over the intercom, a mixture of still happy but not entirely pleased.

  “Thank you for the ride. All of you,” Johnson said, a smile upon his face as he stepped out. “We couldn't have gotten this far without your help.”

  Absolutely true. They'd managed to bail us out already, and I'd hate to leave them hanging. But they said they had things under control. If nothing else, I'd like to believe they weren't lying about that.

  Getting off was easy enough.

  “You're still about two kilometers away from Marian,” Shifty shouted, as the AZX picked up speed.

  “And Chatterbox is closing in,” I followed. He was moving fast, honed in our location.

  “Then we make as much headway as we can, while we can,” Johnson nodded. As nice as an ambush on Chatterbox would be, staying in one place would be suspicious.

  Closing as much distance on foot wasn't a bad thing, and I could already see explosions in the distance. I had no clue what two kilometers came out too in imperial units, but it sounded like a very runnable distance.

  “What's up with Chatterbox anyway? It's like he's obsessed!” Anis shouted as we all began to book it.

  “Only ran into the fucker once before I met you guys. Unpleasant experience overall,” I shrug, keeping an eye on both where my feet were going, but also where Chatterbox was in relation to us. “Never had the time to ask what his deal is. Don't think I'd get a straight answer out of him even if I tried. World would be better off without him though.”

  “I can't disagree with that,” Johnson's voice was full of disdain. After everything? Couldn't blame him.

  But the problem was killing him. For all his gorilla-like posture, his healing abilities made him a goddamn roach. That and!

  “Incoming!” I shouted, as Chatterbox slammed into the ground in front of us.

  “En…”

  Bang! Bang!

  I put a bullet in both of his eyes. The roar of pain was a signal all of its own. Keeping up the fire to make sure he was confused for as long as possible.

  “You really think this is going to work? You think you're winning? You just put the Ark's forces in one place to be crushed!” That was, in a simple word, a risky maneuver. One grand battle to break the enemies back forever was a nice thing on paper.

  But that was the thing about war. Enemies get their say too.

  “That's it? What's this supposed to do, hurt me?” By the time Chatterbox got his vision back, he could see what we did. He was surrounded by four metal spikes, thrumming with energy. He was in the center, like an X marking the spot on a map.

  “That is the idea,” Commander Johnson hit the button, before lightning surged forth, slamming into Chatterbox.

  “Arrreaaaarra!” That was a scream of pain. His body staggered, electricity coursing up and down his body. “I'll! Kill you!”

  Chunks of his body were being torn away, blasted apart by the electricity. Burns ran across Chatterbox's armor, spasms running through his form.

  But it wasn't enough. The damage may have been accumulating, but it wasn't accumulating fast enough!

  “How long is that going to hold him?” Rapi asked, as Johnson signaled for us to keep moving, leaving Chatterbox to be electrocuted like a moth caught in a bug zapper.

  “Until it runs out of juice,” so not long. Not long enough. Nowhere near long enough. I had no idea what type of battery Missilis eggheads put in that thing, but batteries were finite.

  “It would be nice if Snow White showed up,” I shouted, looking over my shoulder as it seemed Chatterbox had gathered enough of his nerves to try and crush one of the pylons.

  Only for a loud boom to sound, the hand flying off in a familiar fashion. Speak of the devil and he shall appear is in full force today, it seemed.

  “Thank you for setting him up like that. I will make sure he can't interfere,” her voice was still so monotone, but I'd like to think she was taking some satisfaction from watching Chatterbox squirm like that.

  “Can she hold him off on her own?” Rapi asked. It was a good question.

  “She's always made him run off before. He's scared of her, at the very least. I don't think he favors himself in a fight with her,” of course there was a difference between her being able to kill him, and her being able to play keep away. Though killing Chatterbox now would solve a great many problems.

  “She says she can do it. For Marian's sake, we have to believe her,” Johnskn said, voice firm. He had a good point. If Snow White couldn't do it, then we were probably in bad shape anyway. With the sounds of more gunfire and explosions, we needed to be focused on what was in front of us.

  “Right. We can't stumble at the finish line,” out of all people who said something like that, I didn't think it would be Anis, of all people.

  But she was right. We couldn't afford to fail here.

  The sounds of fighting only grew far more intense as we got closer. Bullets and missiles were flying all over the place. Despite the name, Cafe Sweety as a squad seemed to be matching Absolute. It looked like a stalemate to me, nobody was down for the count.

  “You can do it!” I heard one of them say as we changed swapped, our presence distracting Marian so they could begin pulling out. She was shorter, with black hair and a hat.

  “Don't fail,” was probably the best we were getting out of Eunhwa.

  “I know you,” Marian's voice hummed from inside the armor.

  “Marian, you do know us,” Johnson stepped forward slightly. The only reason he didn't step farther was Rapi standing in his path protectively. Would it be great if we could talk Marian back to normal? Yes, but we had to beat her up to get her to snap back the first time.

  And I wouldn't put it past the Raptures to patch out that little bug.

  “Marian? My name is Moderna. I am a servant of the Queen,” dammit, I figured that was going to be the case. “And all I see is five targets to vent my frustration on.”

  As a Heretic, Marian was fast. The missile was already in the air. I was faster, rounds tearing through the payload, explosion sending shrapnel everywhere. Even Marian was taken by surprise, long enough for Rapi to push Commander Johnson back to safety, and for the rest of to begin unloading into her.

  “How did you?” There was confusion there. It was almost as if. Oh. She didn't know who I was! How would she? She never met me in this body before! “You're supposed to be new. How did you move like?”

  Multiple rounds slammed into that shield of hers, impacting at a rate that would have brought down most Lord classes. Grenades and shotgun blasts joined in, hammering away as she was trying to process.

  “Oh,” she said after a moment, before several salvo's of missiles were launched in my direction. “You're the one that hurt me.”

  Even with help, I couldn't shoot down all of them. But if she wanted to focus her fire on me? I certainly would help her waste ammunition that would be otherwise shot at my teammates. Weaving and dodging, missiles hammered the ground around me. Mobility was my best defense, and I did everything in my power to move erratically. Be as unpredictable as possible. Everyone else was hammering away at the shield.

  “Just die!” A particularly nasty hit almost looked like it made its way through. Cafe Sweety and Absolute really managed to put a dent in that shield if we were close to breaking through. The salvo went up, not aimed at me, but rather the others, already putting up a screen of bullets.

  With her attention elsewhere, I lined up a shot. A stream of bullets slammed into the shield, before a few bullets managed to break through, spreading the missile launcher and causing it to detonate.

  With the shield reimposing itself, the blast could only take the path of least resistance. Into Marian's armor. The shield flickered and died, releasing smoke that poured through the air. All the while, a familiar sensation was starting to build up in my neck.

  While this body was far better, it still had limits. I had to drop the enhanced nerves eventually. I don't know if Marian timed it, or it was dumb luck. But the moment I let my enhanced nerves reset, the smoke shifted. Despite the protest at the sudden reactivation, I pulled on my nerves for everything I got.

  I still got clipped, getting sent flying backwards. Warnings blared as I ignored them, rolling as best as I could. Having broken ribs wasn't important right now!

  By the time the smoke cleared, the armor had clearly seen far better days. Marian's head was poking out of its chest, a slight grin on her face if pained.

  “You managed to hurt me again,” she hissed. I took the time to push myself back up, already aiming down my sights. “But this time, I think I'll just kill you.”

  As she spoke, a strange energy began to build up around her. Almost like before. But before she could do anything with it, a primal, pained scream left her throat. Her hands went to her head, as if holding it solved all the world's problems. The black light dissipated, as Marian's body, and the armor along with it, went limp. Then the chest piece opened, Marian's body staggered forward, feet unsteady.

  “Commander?” Her voice was unsteady, uncertain. Almost like she had just woken from a dream. “Is that you?”

  Was this it? Had we done it? Had we freed Marian? Something tickled at the back of my mind. My eyes fell on what she held in her hand.

  It was a bandage. Maybe. It was a thin cloth of some kind, one that could serve as a bandage. Was it? I read the reports. I'd experienced the behavior. Was that the bandage?

  If that was the bandage?

  Then why the hell had the Raptures let her keep it? One would think that they would want nothing to remind a conversion of their past life. So why would they let her keep it? Why would she keep it? Was it a sign that she was fighting from the inside this entire time?

  Or was this some sort of trick?

  I kept one eye on Johnson. He would know. He and Rapi would have to know. Anis too. But the silence and the tension?

  I kept my gun trained on her. The silence meant even Johnson seemed to expect a trap.

  “You were the first person to treat me with any kindness, Commander,” Marian stepped closer, even as Rapi stepped between her and Johnson. “Could you please retie my bandage for me?”

  The click of multiple guns was enough to stop her from advancing, a confused look on her face. Fuck, if she wasn't free, she was doing a good job of selling it.

  “Rapi, why are you pointing your gun at me? We're friends, remember?” Her voice sold the pained hurt that would come with a friend pointing their gun at you for seemingly no reason. Then?

  I barely had time to notice it, but in a blind, Marian had grabbed something off the ground, jamming it straight into Rapi's stomach.

  “Hahah! You actually feel for it! I can't wait to see what gets spat out when she assimilates!”

  Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Anis and Neon couldn't shoot. Too much risk of hitting Rapi. Shotguns and grenades weren't made for it. The first round blasts through the remnant of Material H, forcibly disconnecting it from the part of it Marian was holding. The following two rounds caught Marian square in the chest as I advanced.

  “Annoying little!” I don't see what Marian hit me with, but I feel my leg buckle suddenly, twisted at an impossible angle. Again, warnings blare that I shut them down.

  More, important matters to deal with!

  “Now, where was I? Oh yes, turning you into,” Rapi, somehow, managed to use the distraction to grapple her holding Marian in place by denying her leverage.

  “Commander, now!” Rapi shouted, struggling to hold Marian's body still.

  “You won't shoot me! You can't! You're too kind for that! Just redo my bandage already!” Marian screamed, flailing about, trying to break free.

  “I can. Because this bullet isn't for killing you, Moderna. It's for saving Marian.”

  The gunshot rings loud and clear, Marian's head whipping so far back it causes Rapi to stumble to the ground, grasping her stomach. For a moment, the world stands completely still.

  Only for Marian's head to whip back up, red bullet lodged firmly between her teeth.

  “You shot me! You actually shot me!” She spat the bullet into the dirt. I tried to stand up as tendrils pierced through Johnson's abdomen, blood already starting to spill out.

  “You!” Whatever warnings spring up, I shut down. Every red flagged system, ignored. Despite my leg wanting to break off at any second, I am upon Marain. Faster than should have been possible, my anger leading me to abandon the range of my rifle in favor of using it as a club against her skull. I couldn't see anything beyond the red in my vision as for the first time, Marian seemed halfway afraid, being taken off guard by the sudden attack.

  I was barely aware enough to hear Rapi's warning, her pulling the fragment of Material H out of herself before throwing it.

  The only reason I heeded that warning was it was moving fast. Too fast. Silently.

  I pushed away, the makeshift throwing dagger embedding itself in Marian's back. The shockwave alone finished off what was left of Marian's visor. The blast sent me tumbling, eating dirt with every spin. I barely noticed the scream leaving Marian's throat, but I noticed the black light pouring out of her.

  I just didn't give a shit. The Vapaus bullet was God knows where, and Johnson was bleeding out us! We didn't have a solution anymore.

  Then the screaming stops. The light stops. Marian is standing there, red eyes dull, almost like tinted glass. Her armor, looming large over the battlefield, begins to crumble to dust.

  I began to line up a shot. This was our best chance to finish this. To avenge Johnson right here and.

  “Wait!” My head whipped towards Neon, about to open my mouth and give her a whole new vocabulary.

  “Commander?” Marian was running towards Johnson as I twitched. “What happened to you?”

  She knelt down beside him, trying to use her hands to stop the bleeding.

  “Good to see that you're back,” Johnson's voice was weak, but he moved a piece of her hair aside, tucking it behind her ear. Then the hand came back down as his body went still.

  “Commander? Commander!” Marian shouted again, this time to no response. “Please, we need to stabilize him! Help me!”

  I groaned, pain flaring back up louder than before I tried to stand back up. By the time I had gotten over, Rapi and Anis had stabilized him for the most part.

  “A medical transport is already on route. Just keep him alive until then,” Shifty's voice was full of its own pain and tears. Good, reliable Shifty. She always did good work.

  “He's going to need a transfusion when we get back. He's lost too much blood,” Rapi said after a moment, Johnson's chest covered in bandages. It was a miracle he hadn't bled out already.

  “No! I won't let you!”

  The voice was almost unrecognizable. Barely a head, hardly a shoulder and torso, with the scraps of what might be able to pass off as an arm.

  “I won't let you take her!”

  We opened up. We all did. Grenades, chaingun, shotgun shells, and rifle rounds. We put it all up. And it wasn't stopping him. He was holding together on nothing but pure spite and hate. I would admire it.

  If this sack of shit wasn't our enemy!

  His fist was aimed at Marian. Directly at her head. What he was doing was clear.

  Fuck that. Fuck him with a rusty railroad spike used as a kabob for several cactuses! I was not letting him undo everything!

  My body moved, protests and warnings screaming as I shoved Marian to the side, leg making me get there just in time before it finally gave way.

  It wasn't a direct hit, but Chatterbox's grazed my skull. Enough that I felt skin rip and tear as my body tumbled to the ground.

  “Yes! I won't let you take her! I won! You can't undo this!” Chatterbox's laughter rang in my ears but came, weird. I think he took off my ear or something. I let out a pained groan, limbs quaking as I tried to push myself up.

  “I'm GoInG tO pUnCh SnOw WhItE fOr LeTtInG yOu LiVe,” my voice sounded wrong, even to my ears. He must have gotten some muscles around my mouth. Really didn't want to look at a mirror right now.

  Mirror mirror.

  The way Chatterbox's laughter went stone silent was worth it though. The way it cut off completely was priceless. Like someone hit the pause on an annoying laughtrack.

  “What? That's not,” what was better? The panic in his voice. Best part of the day. Maybe second best. “No! You bitch! I won't be denied this! I won't have you undo all my work!”

  “Your work?” Marian spoke up. “You? You're the one that did this to me?”

  I looked, pulling my eyes out of the dirt just enough to see. Around Marian, it looked as if someone hit the off switch, light becoming dim.

  “You're the one that corrupted me?” Chatterbox made a sound of pure panic, like he was about to say something important. Neon sounded like she was restraining Anis, I think. But before Chatterbox could get a word out of his throat? The dark light emitted from Marian's hand, a beam launching into the distance. When she was done?

  Everything around Chatterbox, and everything behind him, was gone. As if he never existed in the first place.

  Okay, that's the best moment of the day.

  “Elen, are you okay?” Rapi rolled onto my back. I think. My vision was shot right now.

  “No,” was the simple answer. Everything just hurts. My brain, my body. All of it. She held a finger in front of my face, my eyes doing their best to track it.

  “Is she okay?” Marian asked, looking down at me.

  Queen. Replacement. Usurper.

  Screw you, voice inside my head. All queens were once princesses. And all princesses are usurpers or descendants of usurpers.

  Hold on. Wait just a fucking minute. Oh, that fucker. If hell existed, I was going to hunt that bastard down with a sharp stick.

  “I, don't know,” Rapi voice caring concern I hadn't heard out of her in a while. “I think she.”

  Whatever the hell Rapi said to Marian was a whisper. I couldn't hear it. Or maybe I tuned it out.

  “No way! There's no way!” That was Anis shouting. “There's no way Elen is corrupted!”

  Kill, for the Queen.

  Fuck you! I'm not listening to you and your horse shit.

  For the Queen.

  Get out of my head before I strangle you!

  “JuSt HiT mE wItH a SuPrEsIoN bUlLeT aLrEaDy! ThEre'S a VoIcE iN mY hEaD sCrEaMiNg AbOuT kIlLiNg PeOpLe, AnD i KnOw It IsN't MiNe!” I did my best to shout.

  I could beat this shit! But that didn't give me a right to be a possible danger to everyone else while I do it!

  Didn't even feel the bullet.

  x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

  Mirror mirror.

  Crash!

  Mirror mirror.

  Crash!

  For the Queen. For the Queen.

  Crash.

  Why do you resist?

  Crash.

  Why do you fight back?

  Crash.

  Just give up. Just give in.

  Crash.

  Just surrender. For the Que

  You. You're the one that did this to me?

  Red Shoes.

  x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

  End of Part 1