(A/N: uhhhh... Something something blood, something something violence, something something dark scene, something something trigger warning. Am I doing this right?-
But seriously - this chapter contains much blood and pretty dark scenes, so if you're sensitive to that, proceed with caution.)
~~~~~
"You can take my heart, you can take my breath, when you pry it from my cold, dead chest!"
- "The Resistance," by Skillet
~~~~~
Location: Polus
Talon
He was playing in the snow with Wren, making another one of those snowmen that Lime had taught them how to make.
When they finished the snowman, Wren smiled at Talon, and Talon smiled shyly back at his friend.
Wren turned to make another one, and that was when Talon heard a small, faint sound.
Tink.
What is that? He wondered.
His sister had always told him that he should get help before investigating something - he missed her dearly, but her instructions were still ingrained deep in his brain.
Another sound, similar to the first - tink.
The small child looked around, searching for the source of the noise. As he looked back at Storage, he heard another tink - and it seemed to come from inside.
Strangely, the doors were closed. They weren't closed before.
Cautiously, Talon walked towards Storage, and he heard Wren's footsteps following him.
"Where you going? We have to finish the snowman!" Wren said, pulling at Talon's arm.
Talon shook his head, gesturing towards Storage as another tink came from inside. Wren's eyes widened.
As they got closer, Talon could hear a very faint voice he didn't recognize.
"Please... please help..."
Talon backed away from the door, his eyes widening out of his sockets.
Who's that?
I have to find Black and Lime! He thought, frantically running back to their snowman to see if he could see them.
They weren't there.
Are they in Storage? Why are the doors shut??
Talon was extremely confused, but he knew that something definitely wasn't right.
I can't go without help, he reminded himself, knowing that's what Estelle would say.
Talon looked at Wren for a long moment, and then finally got the courage to whisper, "... where's your dad? We- we need help."
Despite being surprised that Talon actually spoke, Wren nodded nervously and started running towards MedBay.
The two kids ran as fast as they could to Wren's dad, whom Talon found a little scary - but he could definitely help.
Well, if he was awake.
Thankfully, the man in the red spacesuit was sitting up in his bed with a sad expression.
The two of them ran up to him, and they quickly got his attention.
"Wren? Talon? What's wrong?" he asked, leaning down to their level.
Wren spoke up, "we can't find Black and Lime, and the Storage doors are locked! We heard noises from inside!"
His eyes widened, and he quickly scooped up the two of them, running towards Storage.
Talon would probably have enjoyed the ride more if it wasn't such a scary situation.
They approached the doors, and after setting them down, Wren's dad knocked on them. "Black? Lime?"
"In- in here!-" a hoarse voice whispered, before coughing.
Wren's dad looked at them. "Stay behind me, okay?"
Wren was shaking with nervousness, so Talon dragged him out of the way, to safety.
After a minute, Wren's dad managed to undo the switches locking the door, and he slowly pushed them open.
He stumbled back in pure shock and fear, shaking. "O- oh my F**KING-"
After remembering that Talon and Wren were there, he quickly pushed them away from the door - presumably to keep them from seeing what was inside.
"Thanks for getting me, kids - but I need you to go find Maroon, okay?"
With a new mission to accomplish, Talon grabbed Wren's hand and ran off to find Maroon.
~~~~~
Pink
Pink forced herself to keep calm, despite her growing fear for her best friend's life, as well as her own.
Gripping the scalpel in her hand, she stared at Silver, trying to find the best course of action.
"You're not an ordinary crewmate?" Silver repeated, laughing. "Trying to be special, are we? Honey, I'm sorry to break it to you, but that is purely delusional thinking - you're not unique. No one is - you'll die just like everyone else. Everyone always thinks they'll be the one to survive, but they always fail. They always die, and you'll be no different."
While keeping her expression neutral, Pink just hoped that she could prove Silver wrong.
Quickly glancing behind her, she saw Purple bandaging her stab wound and working to stop the bleeding. Good, at least that's getting under control.
But if I die, she dies.
Red, Black, the two kids, and all the other innocent crewmates came to mind.
I can't afford to lose this fight. I just can't.
Silver tossed her knife from hand to hand, smiling innocently at Pink.
Stay calm. No fear.
Pink knew that there were materials in the room that she could possibly use to her advantage - even if just to slow Silver down.
Her brain was working at lightning speed, trying to find the best solution and how to execute them.
Her brain was interrupted as Silver dashed towards her.
Pink narrowly dodged the knife slash toward her face, and she barreled downwards, aiming for Silver's feet.
She managed to unbalance Silver, but as Silver went down, she dragged Pink with her, rendering them both grappling for control on the floor.
Silver's knife came dangerously close to Pink's neck, but Pink rolled to the side. Her detective experience seemed to be kicking in - although, the helmets made fighting very strange.
Not that Pink had much of a choice in the matter.
Once Pink got off her, Silver flipped back onto her feet, quick as a cat. Pink also got up, and the two girls glared at each other before clashing again.
This time, Silver went to stab Pink in the chest for a swift kill, but Pink combated her strike with the scalpel.
My skills haven't left me after all, Pink thought, relieved.
If one could have a sword fight with a scalpel and a small knife, that was exactly what they were doing.
That is, until Silver whirled in a quick circle, gaining momentum to shove Pink backwards with brute force.
Pink tried to stand her ground, but she was quickly overpowered by the superior fighter, who kicked her feet from under her.
NO-
The detective was shoved to the floor, and the scalpel clattered out of her hand.
S**T, NO-
Silver pounced - literally - on the opportunity to pin her opponent down, but Pink grabbed Silver's shoulders, smashing their helmets together as a last-ditch effort.
That stunned Silver, but only temporarily.
However, the split second that Silver took to recover was Pink's saving grace. She took the opportunity to shove Silver off her and grab the scalpel back.
Not today, Satan.
Silver got to her feet again, and so did Pink. Upon looking at Silver's helmet, Pink noticed that it was noticeably damaged and cracked.
But then again, so was her own.
Pink breathed heavily, not knowing how Silver would attack next, but using the few split seconds to get some good breaths in.
Glancing to the other side of Specimen, Pink saw that Purple was evidently having success on her front.
However, during that split second of distraction, Silver seized the opportunity to strike.
Pink narrowly dodged Silver's initial attack, but she never saw the kick coming.
She was kicked to the floor, and hands suddenly wrapped around her neck, slamming her into the counter in the center of Specimen.
Pink desperately scrabbled at Silver's grip on her, trying to free her throat.
No, no no no-
After a moment of struggling, black spots danced and tangoed in her vision, threatening to drag her to the eternal sleep.
Please no-
I can't- I can't die here- the others need me-
Pink screwed her eyes tightly shut, knowing her strength was wavering.
Her hands that had previously been clawing at Silver slowed down, and Pink opened her mouth for air that wasn't being allowed in.
Do- do you have no pity?-
Suddenly, the pressure was relieved from her throat, and Pink gasped, inhaling the sweet, sweet oxygen.
She found herself coughing, but that didn't matter. She was alive, and she was- wait.
Where's Purple?
Pink looked up, and her eyes widened in horror.
Purple and Silver were fighting now, and Silver was taking advantage of the fact that Purple was wounded to take the upper hand.
Pink reached for the scalpel she had dropped, ready to thrust it between Silver's ribs, but Silver stood up, holding Purple in front of her in a chokehold.
Purple was shaking and struggling, obviously terrified of the situation.
"Sorry, Autumn," she whispered out, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes, "I just couldn't let you die."
The detective froze, knowing deep down what was coming next, but praying that it would not be the case.
"Not so confident now, are we?" Silver laughed. "In other cases, I would make a deal with you, but... unfortunately for you, you're both on the list, and I have somewhere else to be right about now."
She gripped Purple's head. At this, Purple's eyes widened with fear, and her tear-filled gaze met Pink's for the last time.
"NO!" Pink screamed, lunging for Silver, but it was too late.
Silver twisted Purple's head, evoking a sickening crack.
Purple collapsed on the floor, dead.
Pink couldn't breathe as tears streamed out of her eyes.
At the sight of Purple's dead body, something snapped within Pink.
Slowly, she looked up at Silver's triumphant expression, her gaze filled with wrathful fury waiting to be unleashed.
Leaping forwards, Silver stabbed her knife down towards Pink, going for the kill.
Calmly, almost methodically, Pink grabbed Silver's wrist, and then twisted it, no emotion in her gaze other than pure fury.
Silver hissed in pain, jerking backwards, out of Pink's reach.
But Pink wasn't done - far from it.
Silver lunged at Pink again, but without flinching, Pink disarmed Silver and slammed her against the counter, all in one movement.
Silver struggled under Pink's arm pinning her down, and that's when Pink decided to use Silver's knife against her.
Pink stabbed downwards, piercing the blade through Silver's hand, forcing that limb to be stuck to the counter.
But Silver's resulting scream of pain wasn't enough for Pink.
She needed Silver to pay.
She needed more.
Still pinning Silver down with her arm, Pink stabbed into Silver's helmet, breaking the material that protected Silver's face from danger and contained her oxygen.
There was oxygen in Specimen, but that was not Pink's concern in the slightest.
With the helmet broken, Pink went for the most vulnerable part of Silver's face, ignoring her protests and screams.
Pink slashed the scalpel across one of Silver's eyes.
This action evoked an ear-shattering shriek of pain from Silver, helping to satisfy a dark, sinister need inside Pink.
Coming to her senses after that, Pink stepped back. Crying and gasping, Silver cupped her free hand over her bleeding eye, tears of pain coming from the other one.
Deeply shaken, Pink looked down at her bloodied hands, wondering what sort of level she had stooped to.
... she would be terrified of me, Pink realized, thinking of Purple.
Looking at Purple's dead body again, Pink's eyes welled with tears.
She fell to her knees, having no motivation or energy to do anything more.
Taking Purple into her arms, Pink hugged her best friend close for one last time.
And that was where she wept.
~~~~~
A/N: ... well, that got kinda dark.
Quite a morbid chapter, huh?
Next chapter, Blue and Green will be back - I just had to get through the major Polus plot point without interruption, and this chapter is already long enough.
I have a lot of things in store for the next few chapters, and I can't WAIT.
Also, Purple's death might be one of the only ones I actually feel sad about.
Everyone else? I HAVE NO REMORSE- (/joke, this is a joke.)
Question of the chapter: did you like Talon's perspective? That was the very first one I've done - do you want to see more of those?