"Ah," Heisenberg said through the loudspeaker as a small figure in the distance approached the factory, "Ethan Winters. Welcome."
"Ethan?" Mia said, pausing and almost making you run into her. She looked over her shoulder as you tried to get her to keep moving. "I need to tell him I'm okay."
"We can't, Mia," you said, pushing her up the cliffside as Heisenberg welcomed Ethan to his humble factory. "It will jeopardize your whole family's safety. I promise that you'll see him again, but we can't now."
"I'd like to speak to you about Rose and Miranda," Heisenberg's voice started to fade the further away you got from the factory. You were a little worried that Ethan would try to kill Karl before you got back but Karl assured you that he would be just fine. He made all of the metal surrounding you vibrate when he said that, relaxing you a bit. Now, you just needed to get
Your plan was to get Mia as far away from the upcoming battle between Karl and Ethan as possible. You had no doubt that Miranda would be watching the fight just as she had when you battled Ethan and you couldn't hide the both of you. Miranda may not be able to watch the fight inside the factory, Karl Heisenberg was quite the dramatic man and would find a way to get Ethan outside. You knew that there would be metal and electricity flying everywhere to sell the point that Heisenberg was legitimately trying. While you could survive a little electrocution and flying metal, Mia probably couldn't even with her infection. Besides, Mia was going to be Rose's escape plan when you eventually crashed Miranda's ceremony.
"Alina," you scolded when you got to the top of the mountain. "You should have stayed with the pack." You furrowed your brows in disappointment as Alina gave you a cheeky grin. Your attention turned to Wadim who was curled protectively around Alina with a guilty look on his face. "Why did you let her come? She's safer with the Vârcolaci." Wadim lifted his head and snorted at you in response, giving Alina an annoyed glare. "She wouldn't get off, huh?" Wadim nodded as you groaned and rubbed the bridge of your nose. "Alina, we talked about this. You need to prioritize your life rather than your curiosity."
"But I wanted to make sure you were okay," Alina defended, grinning.
"You would have found that out anyway," you said, raising a brow as you helped Mia get over the last bit of the cliff. "I have someone you need to meet going forward." You led Mia toward Wadim and Alina to introduce them. Mia was a little skeptical about meeting Wadim but that was to be expected. You told Mia about him on the way up and that he was going to get here to the pack of man-eating wolf creatures. "This is Mia, she's Ethan's wife and Rose's mom. Mia, this is Alina, the little girl I told you about earlier."
"Does she need to be safe too?" Alina asked, cocking her head.
"Yes," you said, nodding. "She's also going to play a key role in saving Rose."
"Can I join too?" Alina asked, giving you those big puppy eyes that you had a very hard time resisting. Luckily, this was something you planned for.
"Already know what you need to do," you said, petting Wadim's snout. "The three of you will wait outside of the Ceremony Site with Boian. The rest of the pack will help Heisenberg and me with killing Miranda."
"What about Ethan and Rose?" Mia asked, raising a brow.
"We'll get them out and away from Miranda and to you," you said, scratching under Wadim's chin. "Ethan's been fighting since the second he got here, the man deserves a break. He'll escape with you and get as far from the village as possible. Heisenberg, the rest of the pack, and I will catch up with you when the battle's over."
"I want to fly with Wadim," Alina shouted, throwing herself at Wadim's neck. The creature chirped and pulled away from you, hugging Alina with his neck.
"Are you okay with traveling on the ground?" you asked Mia, smiling at the sheer love Alina had for Wadim.
"As long as Brian can keep up with them, I have no complaints," Mia said, gesturing to Wadim and Alina.
"Boian," you corrected with a snort, "and he absolutely can. He's the fastest and the strongest of my Vârcolaci. If any of them can keep up with two and a half passengers, it's Boian."
"When will we be meeting you?" Alina asked, determined to get started.
"Hide in the caves under the stone bridge before sunrise," you said. "Be wary of black roots and wait until Heisenberg gives the go with this." You pulled out a small radio from your satchel and handed it to Mia who quickly concealed it in a backpack that Heisenberg had lying around. She thought that it was some spare backpack he got just in case he had a chance to run while you knew better. The bag originally belonged to a hiker that had the perfect physique to be a Panzer. Karl was never one to miss opportunities and he usually kept the outsiders' belongings for a rainy day. Mia's new bag contained medicine, food, a blunt weapon or two, and Uncle Sal's remains. You didn't want anything bad to happen to it and knew Mia would keep Uncle Sal safe. "Wait for me to come out with Ethan, then run."
"You'll come with us?" Alina asked, stars in her eyes.
"No, I'm just going to get Ethan's stubborn butt to you so you can take him a safe distance away," you said, shaking your head. "It's not like he can fight well with a baby in his arms. Heisenberg and I will catch up with you when Miranda finally dies." You glanced at the setting sun, contemplating. With the mountains surrounding your home, the sunset was much sooner than it would be if there were open skies. The valley was shrouded in a beautiful golden light, indicating that you needed to get your ass in gear and get back to Heisenberg as soon as possible. "Stay hidden, I'll see you two soon."
You left Mia and Alina without another word, trusting Wadim to keep them both safe should he need to. Then you remembered how Mia did not hesitate in hitting Karl with a metal pipe the second he threatened her safety and realized that you had nothing to worry about as you descended the mountain. Your steps were swift and quiet as you scaled down the mountain, trying to get back to the factory as fast as you could. You only glanced back to the mountaintop once to see Wadim fly off into the clouds with Alina and Mia on his back. It made you smile thinking how everything was finally starting to come together. Normally, you would have been skeptical to get hopeful, but you felt it was warranted. Miranda was always the one tearing your hope and happiness down, now it was your turn.
The factory noises seemed to be louder when you snuck into the garage, the adrenaline pumping through you amplifying your sense of hearing. You could hear the heavy footsteps of Soldats wandering the upper halls and the faint sound of voices from around the corner. Sneaking through the hallway, you made your way to one of Heisenberg's many workshops. You stopped at the doorway to listen in on the conversation between Karl and Ethan, being sure to stay out of sight so Ethan wouldn't be suspicious. You were able to catch the tail end of their conversation, wincing at Karl's words to Ethan.
"Do you have any idea how powerful that kid is?" Karl asked, turning to his mural with everyone's photo on it. "Even Miranda's scared of her," Karl stopped talking as a horribly loud sound interrupted him. You recognized the noise of the failed experiment of Sturm and quietly chuckled, remembering how annoyed Heisenberg would get when that thing would make a random noise. Heisenberg stormed over to the hole leading to Sturm's little cell area and yelled at it. "Last time, you freak, I swear to God!" Karl stepped away from the hole and turned his attention back to Ethan, removing his glasses in the process. "You and me, Ethan. Together, we go save Rose, and then we can use her to grind Miranda into paste."
"My daughter is not a weapon," Ethan growled, anger seeping from his voice. "Fuck you!"
There was a beat of silence as Heisenberg got an idea looking at the hole behind Ethan. With a huff, Heisenberg kicked the chair out from beneath Ethan. Before he could fall down the hole, Heisenberg grabbed Ethan's arm and held him off balance. "Last chance," he said, raising a brow as he gestured to the opening behind Ethan. "You don't want to find out what's in that hole."
"I'll take my chances," Ethan said, glaring at Heisenberg as he let go of Heisenberg's arm.
"Your funeral," Heisenberg shrugged, letting Ethan fall into the hole. You heard screaming as you stepped into the room, waiting for Ethan to start running. A few shots were fired followed by the sound of an alarm with Sturm running away. "That should piss him off."
"I mean, that is one way to do it," you agreed, walking up to Karl. "Using his daughter as a weapon?"
"It did the trick," Heisenberg defended, gesturing to the hole. "Besides, he's going to get even more pissed off."
"Why?"
"There's nothing but dead ends down there except for the garbage shoot." Karl's grin was sly and evil as he said that.
"At the bottom of the factory?" you questioned, laughing a little. Karl nodded as he put his glasses off to the side. "Oh, climbing up all those levels is going to be difficult."
"With hundreds of defects in the way too," Karl added on, wrapping his arms around you. He pressed his chest to your back and snuggled into you. "It's gonna take him hours to get up here again."
"You sound oddly accomplished," you said, raising a brow suspiciously. "What's your scheme?"
"Remember when I said later?" Heisenberg asked, whispering in your ear.
"You also said after we leave the village," you said, raising a brow.
"And we will," Karl hummed, nuzzling his nose into your neck. "But I can't help but miss the feeling of you tightening around me." You shivered at his words, liking the idea at first.
"As much as I want to right now," you sighed, unconsciously leaning into Karl's touch, "that's not a good idea."
You felt Karl pout against your neck and chuckled at the action. "Why's that?"
"Fighting Miranda with shaky legs doesn't sound ideal," you explained, teasingly pulling at his hair. "I don't want to become a liability."
"I'll just carry you," Karl reasoned, nipping at your neck.
"That's still being a liability, Karl."
"I still want to fuck you, Lorelei."
"And I still want to kill Miranda, tu Putain," you retorted.
"...Did you just call me a bitch in French?" Heisenberg asked, lifting his head from your neck.
"Yes, and what are you gonna do about it?" you chuckled, scratching behind Karl's ear.
"This," Karl said, nothing but mischief in his tone.
You were confused but that confusion quickly went away when Karl started blowing raspberries on the skin right behind your ear. That piece of skin was one of the very few places that weren't covered in scales and it was sensitive. You burst out laughing, trying to get out of Karl's tight grip as he continued to tickle you. It was something Karl had done in the past as a way to mess with you in a way that had no homicidal or sexual tendencies to it, a rare but wonderful occurrence. Karl loved to hear your laughter, especially when you started to laugh so hard you could barely breathe. His breath on the back of your ear was a surefire way of accomplishing that. You were laughing hysterically and begging him to stop as tears welled in your eyes.
"Karl," you laughed, struggling to get out of his grip. "Karl, cut it out!"
"Never," Heisenberg snorted, taking a breath before continuing.
"Ah!" you squealed, laughing as you finally got Heisenberg's head away from your ear. Your hand was under his jaw and you pushed up as your laughter started to fade. "Enough, we still have shit to do!"
"Can you really blame me for wanting to make you smile?" Karl asked, pulling his head away from your hand.
"No, I guess I can't," you chuckled, turning around in his arms so you could face him. You rested your hands on Karl's chest and placed a small kiss on his lips. "But we do have a few more things to get ready for."
"Alright, alright," Karl said, a loving look in his eye. "Let's finish a few of those models I've been working on. Your fancy little voice might be able to alter my projects."
~ ~ ~
Ethan Winters was not having a good day. First, his wife was killed by someone he thought was a good friend. Then he got knocked out and taken to a village with murderous monster after murderous monster. The few survivors of a village genocide were insane and still worshipped the very person who more than likely orchestrated the attack. That very same woman turned out to be some mutation and likely had something to do with the Louisiana Mold back at the Baker's house, but her variant was called a Cadou. That Cadou created all the monsters of the village including the incredibly hard-to-kill Four Lords. So far, Ethan was able to kill three out of the four with a few really good guns and some dumb luck. Now, Ethan Winters had just fought a machine with propellers made of chainsaws for a face that also spat fire when overheated after spending hours climbing from the bottom of the factory all the way to the top. Ethan was bruised, burnt, and thoroughly done with this whole village a million times over. To top it all off, Ethan was sure he heard your voice over the intercom in the background while Heisenberg was monologuing. It was like Heisenberg wanted Ethan to feel guilty about your death.
Since Ethan was finally back in the garage that he first entered the factory through, he was hopeful that he could get out of fighting Heisenberg and just go straight for Miranda. With all of his talk about killing, maybe Ethan would meet the Lord of Metal on the battlefield with his metal army. Taking a breath, Ethan grabbed the handle of the door to freedom and pulled. At this point, he shouldn't have been surprised, but the door wouldn't open. Just one more thing to add to the list of everything-sucks-and-I-almost-prefer-death-over-this along with the metal that was flying past his face.
Heisenberg was here.
The metal around Ethan started to vibrate and fly around him, throwing the man off balance. Ethan watched as the metal continued to fly around in a magnetic vortex. Heisenberg had to make a show of it, of course, and proceeded to slow clap as he created stairs out of the large, metal platforms that were part of the vortex. Emerging from the dark corner Heisenberg used to conceal himself, the Lord of Metal started to chuckle as he descended to Ethan.
"Not bad, not bad, Winters," Heisenberg praised, walking down his makeshift stairs. Ethan scrambled to his feet and raised his gun, ready to fire if given the opportunity. "You're persistent, but I've got a rebellion to run." Heisenberg stopped walking forward as Ethan started to back away. "So stay out of my way."
Ethan didn't stay away. The insane man decided to instead open fire at the man who could control metal with his mind. Heisenberg was reminded of when Mia hit him over the head with a pipe as the first bullet bounced off of his shoulder. The only difference between Mia and Ethan was that she was smart enough to try and find a different solution when her metal pipe didn't work. Ethan Winters was a bit of a dumbass that didn't take the hint when Heisenberg started to mutate in front of him, making large metal pieces become part of his body. Ethan was, however, smart enough to back out of the room in preparation to run for it. That wouldn't work.
There was only a small beat of silence before Heisenberg completely mutated into his final form, something he had only done once before in front of Miranda. Using the saw that made up his right hand, Heisenberg cut through the metal that separated him from Ethan and grunted while trying to move in the form that he was so unused to using. With a growl, Heisenberg raised his saw again to strike at the crane Ethan was standing on.
"Don't. Come. Back," Heisenberg said, thrusting his saw into the crane, making it break and throwing Ethan off balance.
Ethan screamed as he fell, debris and the remains of the crane falling past him. The drop was long and Ethan was able to turn himself around to see the ground. To Ethan's surprise and relief, there was a running ravine below that could save his life. The broken crane arm crashed into a structure next to Ethan before he plunged into the cold and salty water below, crossing his arms and feet to minimize injury. It felt like Ethan just crashed through a cold wall of bricks and had to take a second to readjust before remembering that he couldn't breathe underwater. Gasping for air, Ethan surfaced and paddled to a stone edge that was nearby. Ethan pulled himself up and out of the water, coughing and sputtering as he looked up at the distance he fell.
"That bastard," Ethan gasped, pulling himself to his feet. "Damnit, again?" Ethan felt like he was about to cry as he spotted the conveyer belts carrying the Soldat models. He was back at the bottom.
Rock fucking bottom.
With a groan, Ethan made his way through the bottom part of the factory. He prayed to whatever God was out there that he could find the elevator or Duke as he crawled through a vent nearby. The area Ethan found himself in was almost pitch black. Not a good sign. Ethan kept his gun ready as he turned on his flashlight. There was a slab of metal in Ethan's way, making the man put his flashlight in his mouth and his gun away. The slab of metal clanged to the side but that wasn't the only noise in the room. Ethan panicked and raised his gun into the dark at the sound of something metal being thrown across the ground.
"Gimme that," Chris said as he grabbed Ethan's gun and disarmed him, scaring Ethan half to death. Chris quickly punched Ethan and shoved him away, growling as he unloaded the pistol. "I told you to leave it alone, Ethan. You're in the way."
"What do you care, Chris?" Ethan growled from the ground, wiping away the blood at the corner of his mouth. "You killed my wife, you son of a bitch!"
"You think I'd kill Mia?" Chris asked, walking away. "That wasn't her. It was Miranda."
"...What?" Ethan asked, sitting up. He recalled one of Heisenberg's journals that explained Miranda's shapeshifting ability. She apparently drew power from something called the Megamycete.
"She's a bioweapon," Chris explained, flicking on the lights. "She changed her appearance and pretended to be Mia. It seems she also survived being shot so now I'm here to finish the job."
"Bullshit!" Ethan yelled, storming over to Chris. Sure, it was a plausible answer but if it actually happened, why wasn't Ethan, Mia's husband, made aware of the situation? "Why didn't you fucking tell me right away?" Ethan shoved Chris, angrier than he had been.
"Because I knew you would want to be involved," Chris shouted back, grabbing Ethan's arm. "And this job is hard enough without civilians getting in the way."
"You have been training me for the past three fucking years, Chris," Ethan glowered. "I survived a previous encounter with the mold and I am not a normal fucking citizen. You. Know. This." Ethan accented his words with a poke to Chris' chest, making the man take a step back. "I'm pretty damn qualified especially after killing three of Miranda's lackeys. Now what the Hell is going on?"
Chris sighed and took a step back, nodding. "Alright, Ethan. Alright. I guess I owe you an explanation."
"You think?"