A/N: Back again with another novelization request. This time for Season 6! Another confrontation between Nick and Ross and a dash of Sky!
This is requested by artgurl! Actually, I've always wanted to write this bit but I wasn't sure how to word it well enough given how short the scene is. But what the hell let's give it a whirl shall we? Sorry in advance if it sounds rushed still!
I hope you enjoy this novelization bit!
I can try to do requests as long as they're within the series, though I can try to do an original bit like I did with Barney's Death but that'll be tricky to do. Still, I'll try my best, if I can't do that then I apologize in advance and hope you can settle with an actual moment from the series itself.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Pain... so much pain...
The burning... the burning intense and hot... made the world spin and tilt...
'NO! Don't lose focus! He's there... Focus on getting your ass over to him and make him pay dearly!'
A huff, a puff... barely getting air for his lungs. A coughing fit, stealing what breath he had. He shook his head and forced himself to calm his breathing, to allow air to pass into his lungs more easily. Its difficult but he has to.
He just has to.
Hazel eyes blinked away the haze, forced the world to stop spinning and sharpened with clarity to see where he was. 'That's right... just keep going... I'm not letting him escape a second time...' But his body said otherwise, another wave of burning pain, seizing his muscles and locking them in painful agony. He cried out, stumbling but held on... endured...
Walkers groaned and scratched at the doors they hid behind but fewer paid attention to the noise outside their worlds... It wasn't long now.
He ignored them and continued, but his body protested, cried out for rest. Just a little rest. Yet, ignored that call for sleep, refused to heed the heavy spell for rest. He refused to let his battered body take away his mission. 'Fuck what what my body wants! I want HIM dead. That's all that matters.'
A fire burned behind those hazel eyes as he forced himself to take those steps onward toward his destination.
The black blaze of revenge.
'You will pay.'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Another couple of gunshots fired as Nick threw open the glass doors that led to the roof of the White House and rushed out toward the mad scientist. Whether Ross heard him coming or not, truth be damned because the brunet sure as fuck didn't have the time to care at this point. They were sitting on a fucking bomb of all things, ready to blow them all sky high; lives were on the line here and as goddamn leader of this survival group it was his job to get them out alive.
Fuck Ross knowing he was on the roof.
Speaking of whom, the narwhal turned to greet him with a sniper rifle in hand, no shock, no fear... no fucking surprise. It was really bothering Nick at this point that this Avatar literally gave no fucks about the lives he ruined or stole. And his superior tone wasn't pleasing to the ears either as he spoke, "Hello Nick."
Nick glared at him, feeling fear, frustration and the need to rush... all the things the narwhal lacked, giving they were sitting on a bomb. But he had to calm down some, it wasn't much use if he got shot this early. 'At least its giving everyone a chance to get out without Ross focused on them.' There's that glimmer of a silver lining.
Still...
"What's your plan, Ross?' the brunet growled, getting to the point because they didn't have the time to dance around with pleasantries. "You planted the explosives, you're calling the shots... Why are you doing all of this?"
'What the hell are you doing? Not enough time! Not enough time! Who cares!? He's insane!' Not enough, not enough. He had to know. None of this adds up, what was the point? He knew he didn't have the time to ask but he just had to know. If he knew perhaps he could understand why it was done in the first place and perhaps be a step closer to finding a cure. Information that could be crucial to Jin's research. 'The twisted fuck killed billions of Avatars! BILLIONS! For what? A sick game to play with his shitty viruses?!' There had to be more to it, Nick knew that for certain.
Ross sighed, unbeknownst of the younger Avatar's internal struggle but if he knew, he could careless; as he thumped the sniper rifle lightly against his thigh. Did he still not get it? Not understand the beauty he was making? Granted sure, it hadn't come to fruition yet but it was getting there. Then again, he wasn't surprised that Nick nor the others understood this. This was beyond the scale their tiny minds could grasp but still it didn't harm to try to explain right? After all, he had all the time in the world. They didn't but still, details, details...!
"Pity, you could never grasp the scale of my plan," the narwhal sighed and a small smile graced his face, but held no emotion whatsoever. "I've created something beautiful, can't you see?"
With the sweep of his arm, the scientist gestured to the surroundings of the White House. Nick tilted his head, trying to understand but blinked as he listened and looked. The fires that burned around the city untamed and out of control; the abandoned buildings, vehicles. The vines that overran and choked the Washington Monument, the walkers the milled about in streets below, mindless and mostly silent, a few attracted by the gunfire trudging over to seek out meals.
The deafening silence that hung in the air-
-only broken by the sounds of the wind that howled mournfully and the hungry moans of the undead.
The very lack of life...
This was beautiful?
Nick shook his head, horrified that this... silence was beautiful. That the walkers that ate anything living thing was 'beautiful' to this madman.
And he thought Red was crazy.
'Fuck his logic. Get him focused on something else! The explosives!' He blinked himself out of the daze and refocused on the present. He gestured to the white house wildly, "But you're here too, Ross!" he yelped, trying to get Ross to feel the panic he felt on still being on this giant death trap. "The explosion will kill us all!"
Maybe thinking about his own life would snap his ass out of it.
But the narwhal smiled and shook his head, shrugging carelessly. Their life, his life... it didn't matter to him... it all ends the same anyway. "We're all expendable." Nick stared at him. Is... is he serious? Does he not care about his own life here? That distant disinterest and the hollow look in his eyes... as if all life was sucked out of him anyway. Nope, not a care in those dead eyes... a dead man already walking.
"Its evolution at its finest. Where emotional beings were selfish and unsatisfied; but my creations... lack all the flaws of their predecessors." Ross continued, an almost blissful tone coloring his voice at the talk of his experiment. "They care for no one... seek no end goal. They simply-"
A sharp smile stretched across his face, dead eyes staring right at Nick's horrified ones.
"-exist."
Nick just stared at him, horrified and disgusted... and understanding just how mad the scientist was. This narwhal wiped out billions of lives, men, women... children... destroyed friends, families... forced them to make choices of dying for someone you cared for or abandon them to survive. Forced them to compete to survive, to tear at each other out of fear. All of that and not a flicker of an eyelash was given at the amount of hell he brought onto them all. No Avatar with a soul could do such a thing and not feel anything about it.
"You really are a monster..." he whispered.
Ross chuckled, the emotionless smile ever present on his face. "No Nick... I made the monster."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Hazel eyes and unsteady body reached the roof. There! There was the monster that took everything from him... everything he had...
But he wasn't alone... another Avatar was there. Eyes squinted, pushing aside the haze to see better. Ah, Nick... Nick was there... good... keep him distracted. He entered the roof but none looked at him. That was perfect, he mused as he moved closer, saving energy for when he really needed it. He didn't want to be seen.
Yet.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The brunet growled, disgusted by the Avatar before him. "You're not going to get away with this."
If he couldn't take him down then someone else out there would have to, maybe even the others. Someone had to stop the madness that was eating the world. Someone just had to.
'How naive... and just exactly who is going to stop what I've done?'
"Don't you see?" Ross chuckled, his grin growing sharper. The narwhal once again shrugged carelessly, arms open to encompass the entire world that burned in ruins behind him. Showing and reminding the brunet the lack of life that now took control of the planet. How hopeless it all was. All while wearing a superior smirk on his face. "I already have."
It didn't even take a second for Nick to realize what he meant, felt the heavy weight of defeat on his shoulders. There wasn't anyone left... at least none that knew the truth. If they all died from the explosion then what hope was there left? Who else out there was even a scientist? Let alone cared enough to find a cure when survival was top priority? Even if Ross died alone... what made him think anything would change from how it was now?
Was there even a way to lift the curse on the world?
Nick lowered his wide eyes in defeat as those negative thoughts crashed through his mind, clouding his thinking and made him blind to everything else around him.
Ross let out an amused chuckle, watching Nick fold easily under the reality of the situation, realizing just how utterly useless it was to dare to hope and dream of a cure. To crush his delusion of returning the world back as it was.
Crushed his hope, like anyone would a bug and without the mess.
The narwhal cocked the rifle and aimed it at the brunet. Quick kill or delayed? Hmm... choices... either way they'll both die from the explosion... so delayed wouldn't be a problem. But he did want his last words to be the last things Nick would hear and forever ring in his head in the afterlife.
He smiled.
Just one more push...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
He tilted his head, confused but didn't push away the outright rage he felt. What was Nick doing? Why was he...? He jolted, realizing what was going on. Saw that Nick wasn't quite 'here' and was blind to what Ross was going to do.
'No! No no no! He can't take someone else! If he dies then Jess would-!' He snarled silently and moved faster, hoping to beat what was going to happen to the punch. He couldn't let Jess cry again. He wouldn't let any of them cry over the loss of their leader... but most of all...
He wasn't going to let him take another life before his ended!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Just imagine," Ross said softly, aiming to break the younger Avatar further. Shatter any confidence he had left, less resistant, the easier the target. "all those trials and challenges... All those sleepless nights and constant heartache... Look at where its gotten you... here." The cold smile remained as he aimed down the sights. "Goodbye Nick..."
Nick said nothing, defeated and blind to see the scientist's finger curl around and press ever so slightly on the trigger... another second and...
"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!!!" a voice bellowed in rage.
The sound of the scream startled both Avatars. It snapped Nick out of his defeated trance to see what was happening fast enough to duck; just as Ross, startled by the extra voice, pulled the trigger to the rifle as he swung to face the direction the sound came from. The shot went wide, missing Nick entirely and didn't even come close to hitting the figure that was charging right at them out of no where.
It took them a moment to realize the figure was a rampaging Sky.
"What the-?!" For once in his life, Ross' voice had the tone of surprise... not very much but it was something close to emotion as he stared in disbelief as someone he thought was suppose to be dead by now, bull rushed him.
"Sky!?" Nick yelped in shock, surprised to see him up and running. His dark eyes widen further as he watched Sky trap Ross in his arms, lift him up and carried him along without breaking his stride or stop his screaming. "What are you doing?!"
"Making sure this monster doesn't do anything else!"
Nick tilted his head for a second in confusion but it was then he looked beyond the two and realized it...
Sky was bull-rushing Ross off the roof but at the speed he was going to-!
The brunet gasped and rushed after them, hoping to catch up and yank him back. "Sky DON'T!"
Sky ignored him as he continued to bellow and charge toward the edge of the roof. The narwhal, for his part, was too stunned to do anything else but stare as he was carried off. "This is where it ENDS you SONOFABITCH!" Sky snarled as his momentum carried them both over the edge.
For those few seconds when his feet left the solid comfort of the roof and into the arms of open air, Sky felt his heart lurch in fear. Those same seconds allowed him to remember what he experienced so far. His times with Barney as they survived together. His fear for his life when the horde chased him for two weeks.
The suspicion but eventual comfort when he met Jess, their ordeal in Hayworth and joy of meeting Nick's group. Then pain and sorrow of Barney's death, Jess' gentle words when she comforted him as he mourned, her words to pull it together for now, the promise from the rest of the group that they would get Ross back for it.
His unbridled rage...
In fact... wasn't that spot on the roof he just threw himself and Ross off of the same spot he and Ghetto sat together as he planned for their raid on Ross' base?
Heh... go figure.
'Heh... sorry Ghetto... for dragging you into my revenge, using you like that buddy...' Sky felt a few tears escape as he felt weightless in the air's grasp, 'I'm sorry everyone... you're all really nice guys but... I'm going with my best friend. And Barney... I'm truly sorry I couldn't let go...'
He heard Nick scream...
Felt gravity grip his body and began its pull...
'This is it then...' Sky gave a humorless smile at Ross, who still stared at him in shock. He let the rage take him back over as he tightened his grip on the mad narwhal. 'Goodbye everyone... I'm taking this batshit fucker to hell with me.'
He felt his stomach lurch as gravity won the tug-o-war with the air and both Avatars plummeted. The ground rushing up to meet them as he grinned and greeted his death head on.
'I'll see you again, buddy.'
"SKY!!!! NOOOOOOO~!"