Kate wandered about the city, looking around to see what had changed and what had stayed the same.
The city was definitely more destroyed than the last time she had been here, so she couldn't tell which buildings were what anymore.
After Kate walked around for ten minutes, she heard a loud banging noise coming from the building beside her.
The girl immediately turned to said building the noise was coming from with a single eyebrow raised in interest.
Kate, without hesitation, stalked over to the door and opened it, soon hearing another banging noise coming from one of the upper floors.
The demon girl quickly located the stairs, steadily ascending them as she skipped past the broken floorboards on her way up.
"What the hell. . .?" Kate mumbled, hearing another bang as soon as her foot was placed on the second floor. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised if someone's been taken hostage, happens all the time here."
Kate groaned once she heard another three bangs, all coming from above her again, "Why does it have to be stairs?"
Kate huffed as she kept walking up, taking around five minutes until she got to the top floor, where the banging was coming from.
Kate wandered around the third floor only to jump when the banging noise was right beside her, the girl turning her head to the large metal door that was slowly rusting away.
"Who's in there?" Kate called, a hand cupped her mouth as she spoke, hesitant at first, but did it anyway in case it was someone she knew.
"Dark!" The man yelled back after a few moments of silence, Kate widening her eyes before they returned to their normal size.
"Hold on," Kate said looking, her eyes glancing around the room for a second before they looked back at the door. "It's Kate. I'm gonna get you outta there."
Kate slowly looked around the room, striding around in search of something to help her get the door open.
After a few minutes of looking, she opened a cabinet, watching as a crowbar fell out, the girl stepping out of the way before it could hit her.
'Don't know if that'll work, but it's worth a try.'
She bent down to it up, holding it in a tight grip and inspecting it for a second, "Dark, I'm going to try and force the door open. Don't know if it'll work, though."
"Just try it," Dark spoke back quickly. "It's worth a shot."
Kate nodded, aware that no one could see her before she walked closer to the door, putting the crowbar between the metal door and the frame.
Kate used all of her strength to try and make the door budge, the door making a loud creaking sound as it moved only an inch.
"Just a little more," Kate muttered, using more strength on the crowbar, but it wouldn't move anymore. "Dark, can you start pushing at the door?"
"Yea," Dark said back, the girl started to push on the crowbar again, the door moving slowly but surely as it made small creaking sounds.
Soon enough, the door swung open towards Kate, the girl stepping out of the way to see Dark standing there with a somewhat angered look on his face.
"How'd you get in there?" Kate asked, taking a deep breath and dropping the crowbar.
"How am I supposed to know?" Dark said, irritated as he walked over to a window to look around at where they were.
"I don't know!" Kate burst out, snarling at the man. "I just assumed you would know since you were in there."
Dark rolled his eyes at her before he cracked his neck, "Well, I don't. Now, let's find Anti."
"Why Anti?" Kate asked with a weirded out look on her face. "Shouldn't we find the others? They have no idea how this place works."
"Pretty sure Anti is in more trouble than they will ever be in," Dark clarified, stalking in front of the girl, already on his way down the steps.
"Why?" Kate asked, her arms crossed as she walked down the steps, Dark by her side.
"Anti was forbidden to ever enter this place again," Dark illustrated, wondering how Kate didn't know this already. "He did something to anger and upset the new rulers of this city."
"Virus and Die?" Kate inquired, only slightly remembering the two. "What'd he do to piss them off?"
"If he wants to," Dark started as soon as he got to the bottom floor. "Anti will tell you."
Kate nodded, opening the door and holding it there for Dark, who replied with 'thank you'.
"Where would he be?" The girl, once again, asked, Dark rolling his eyes at the number of questions being asked.
"I do not know," Dark said quietly, aura slightly snapping out. "This place may look the same, but the buildings are now used for different elements than when I was last here."
Kate hummed, "I still think we should find the others first, they could help us."
"And put them in danger?" Dark asked, an angry look on his face. "Die and Virus are the most powerful demons in this city. Well, apart from me and Anti. The two could kill the others in a flash."
"I suppose so," Kate asserted with a shrug. "But maybe Jackie or Roman, maybe someone else, can help? Someone who is experienced in fighting demons?"
"I suppose Jackie is, Anti and he used to get into a lot of fights," Dark confessed before sighing. "Fine, we'll find the others, but we have to be quick. Anti may not have much time."
- - -
"What're you gonna do to me?" Anti asked, bored as he stared at the same wall he had been for hours.
"Well," Die said, pacing in front of the green-haired demon. "We were hoping to kill you in public. Like a public hanging, or beheading. Who knows?"
"Is there anything to do?" Anti asked, sighing of boredom. "You aren't entertaining, nor nice to look at."
Die scoffed with a roll of his eyes, "That's nice to say. Especially since you're chained up and I could kill you in an instant. I can also hurt you really bad before your death."
"Yea, yea, yea," Anti muttered, waving a hand about, the chains clanking together. "Heard it all before."
Die rolled his eyes at the younger male, "Are you always so ignorant?"
"Maybe," Anti said as he shrugged, his eyes finally moving up to meet Die's "I don't know, ask the others."
"Well," Die started once more, a small scowled overtaking his features. "I would if I knew where they were. Otherwise, they would be here with you."
"Where'd Virus go?" Anti asked straight after Die had spoken. "Off to do your dirty work? You know, I don't actually think you love him. I think you're using him."
"Shut up," Die snapped. "What do you know about love anyway?"
"You should know," Anti said, looking Die straight in the eyes as he started to smirk. "You broke my heart, didn't you?"
Die then grinned, leaning into Anti's face, "Served you right, though. You are nothing but a piece of scum, ya know that?"
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Anti grinned, suddenly laughing up at the man, Die glaring at him, "Why do you ignore all the things people say about you?"
"Because I live to learn that not everyone likes me," Anti explained, grinning up at Die. "Unlike you, who thinks absolutely everyone loves you. Well, guess what? Not everyone does. You're just too mindless that you can't get it through your thick skull."
A punch was then sent to Anti's face, Anti still laughing, "That your only comeback? Didn't even hurt."
"Oh, you'll be a lot more than hurt when I'm done with you later," Die said, turning around and exiting the room, leaving Anti sitting on the ground, chained up.
- - -
"Ugh!" Remus complained as he dragged at the back of the group. "Where is everyone!?"
"Oh my god. . .," Kenzie said, rubbing her face with her hand. "We don't know! If we did, we would have found them by now!"
"Right, sheesh woman," Remus replied, holding his arms up. "No need to be so snappy!"
Kenzie grumbled under her breath, Dr Iplier speaking up, "I would suggest they're all dead."
"Stop," Kenzie warned, her voice deathly calm, making the two boys widen their eyes in fear. "Jim, c'mon."
They all walked around a bit more, searching their surroundings for anything that would lead them to their friends.
"This is hopeless!" Dr Iplier huffed, sitting down with his arms crossed. "Can we all just wait here for someone to find us?"
"No," Kenzie authorized, walking ahead of the doctor and leading the group. "We're going to find them. For all we know they could be on some sort of experiment table!"
"Ooh!" Remus let out, a creepy smile lighting up his face. "Sounds fun!"
"No, Remus, it doesn't," Kenzie uttered, stopping in her tracked a little ahead of the other two. "We all just need to calm down and think for a minute."
"Where's Jim?" Jim asked after a few moments of silence, tugging away from Kenzie and walking about, looking for his twin brother.
"We don't know," Dr Iplier confessed, Kenzie butting in, "But we will be able to find him. Everyone get up. We have to locate them."
- - -
Remy walked along the sidewalk, hands in their pockets as they looked around the dark place, "Why is it so gloomy around here?"
"Vhy are you asking me?" Henrik replied, tugging on Jim's arm to keep him from wandering off.
"You weren't supposed to answer. Rhetorical question, dumbass!"
Henrik rolled his eyes, mumbling under his breath about how much he wanted to be at home.
"I could really use a coffee right now," Remy said out of nowhere, taking a hand out of their pocket to check their nails. "Starbucks, preferably."
Henrik huffed out a sigh, rolling his eyes at the Side, "If you are going to zink, do it quietly, or at least in your head!"
"I'm sorry," Remy said rolling his eyes and looking around with his eyebrows furrowed.
"Doctor!" Jim suddenly exclaimed, making Henrik jump as the Iplier tugged away from him, pointing across the road. "Look! It's Remus, Kenzie, Dr Iplier and Jim!"
The doctor then looked where the Jim was pointing, only to see the people Jim listed two seconds before, Remy doing the same a short while after.
Jim then unexpectedly ran across the road with a wide smile, Remy and Henrik looking annoyed at the Iplier.
"Jim!" He exclaimed, hugging his twin brother with all his might, the other stumbling backwards as he hugged back.
"I missed you!" Reporter Jim exclaimed, hugging his brother as Remy and Henrik crossed the road to reach them.
"Rough time?" Dr Iplier asked, to which Henrik nodded with an exhausted look on his face. "I can tell."
"You don't look any better," Henrik mumbled quietly, rubbing his eyes before turning to look around the area they were in.
"I know," The other doctor replied as he raised a singular eyebrow at his friend. "Can't wait until we get home."
Henrik hummed, watching as Kenzie and Remus had an argument in the background, but he didn't pay attention to what was being said.
- - -
Thomas sighed as he sat down in the corner of the small area he awoke in not too long before, "Why the hell are we in a cell?"
"How are we supposed to know?" Jackie asked with an exasperated look. "We aren't that smart."
"Maybe you aren't," Thomas said, Jackie, pretending to have an offended look on his face. "Logan is the smarted person on Earth."
"Why thank you, Thomas," Logan said, fixing his tie with a slight proud look. "I am glad you think so, but I am afraid it is not correct. You see, the smartest person is--"
"We don't need to hear it," Jackie said, stopping Logan from going on a rant about the 'smartest person in the world'.
"Is there any way we can get out of here?" Thomas asked, raising an eyebrow as he glanced at the hero.
"We haven't checked," Jackie said with a hand up to his chin, the man turning his head to the metal bars of the cell. "I'll look now."
The hero then got up from his laying position, stretching before walking over to the cell entrance, placing a hand on the rusted down bars.
The hero looked around it, turning his head at angles to spot a keyhole at the outside of the cell.
Jackie then tried to open the cell, the bars not budging as he pushed and pulled it, only short creaking sounds following.
"It won't budge," Jackie explained, taking his hand off of the bars. "But here is a keyhole at the other side of the cell door. There's bound to be a key somewhere."
Logan nodded, getting up along with Thomas, his eyes scanning the area quickly before they settled on the Septiceye, "Let's look for it."
- - -
"Are your headache's okay?" Patton asked, turning and looking at Bim and Chase in concern, his eyebrows furrowed as He kept an eye on Sin beside him.
"Mine's fine now," Bim explained, Chase saying the same as he shrugged his shoulders.
"How're doing, kiddo?" Patton asked Sin, who just looked down shyly, her eyes dancing around the dirty ground.
"I-I'm fi-fine," She stuttered as she slowly looked up at the Side. "Thanks for a-asking."
Parton smiled at the girl, getting up and holding a hand out to help her to get up, "C'mon then, we need to find the others."
The group of four then turned, walking out of the alley they were placed in, stopping to look at the buildings the surrounded the area.
"This place is so dull," Patton frowned, quite sad that the place hadn't had any liveliness in it. "It doesn't look happy at all."
"It's okay Patton," Bim said, smiling at the father figure. "I'm sure it'll look happier after you share your love with all the people around."
Patton smiled, laughing a little before stopping and listening to a noise in the distance.
"What is it?" Chace asked, concerned for the Side as he moved closer to him in case anything jumped out.
"I hear talking," Morality explained as he took a small step forwards. "It sounds familiar."
"Let's check it out," Chase announced, walking on ahead of the group, Sin making a noise that clarified she didn't want to explore.
"Kiddo, it'll be okay," Patton said, smiling down at the girl with a reassuring smile.
"You trust me right?" Patton asked to which the girl nodded. "Then trust me when I say it's safe to explore the sounds, alright?"
Sin only nodded, slowly walking with the group to the noise, turning around the corner to see two people.
A girl with red hair and a man with black hair and a red and blue aura around him.
"Dark!" Bim exclaimed, running over to Dark and hugging him.
"Get off," Dark barked with a glare, Bim immediately letting go and stepping away.
"Sin!" Kate exclaimed quietly, ushering for the girl to come over towards her, the older putting an arm around her shoulder for comfort.
"Good to see you again," Kate commented, Sin responding with a nod as she glanced at the people around her.
"We need to find the others," Dark ordered as he started walking again. "Now."
- - -
Mark was whistling, Deceit was sitting in the chair in the corner of the dark room and Jameson was just sitting on the floor in the corner, messing around with his hands.
A sigh then same from Mark, Janus and Jameson lifting their heads to stare at him, "We need to do something!"
"Well, I have an excellent idea to get us out," Janus said with a roll of his eyes, tired of Mark already.
"I am not in the mood for your lying!" Mark exclaimed as he waved his arms around in annoyance. "Is there any time when you actually tell the truth?"
"I wasn't telling the truth earlier," Deceit explained, lying again to which Mark groaned. "And I can definitely control this, pretty easy too. It's not like it happens at random times."
"Great," Mark muttered under his breath, not knowing when the guy was lying or not. "We are stuck in a dark room and we have no idea where anyone is."
Janus just hummed, having been trying to think of a way to get out of this room for ages, but he couldn't think of anything.
"Ugh!" Deceit suddenly let out, annoyed at the situation. "I love this."
"Wonder what the others are doing?" Mark suddenly questioned, Janus shrugging with a roll of his eyes while Jameson signed, ′Probably in a better place than us.′
"Yea, probably."
- - -
"Let's get moving, dudes and dudette," Bing spoke, walking out the door before wandering around the halls, trying to find the stairs or at least a way out of the building they were in.
Ellie just rolled her eyes, following Bing with Marvin and Roman trailing behind her.
"Found the stairs!" Bing called, already halfway down them before abruptly stopping, the android turning around to look up at the others. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Ellie asked with a confused look on her face as she pushed a piece of hair out of her face.
"Voices," Bing continued with a shrug, his eyebrows furrowed as he focused his hearing on them. "Like someone talking."
"Yea. Yea I do," Roman admitted, walking towards the sound which was on the floor below them.
Roman and Bing led the other two down and along the halls as quietly as they could, going on their tip-toes.
They soon came to the door they heard the voices from, the four stopping to listen in.
"I wonder what the others are doing," Someone asked from the other side, the voice sounding somewhat familiar.
"Who is that?" Marvin quietly asked, turning to look at the others who shrugged in return.
Silence followed for a few seconds before another voice behind the door spoke, "Yea, probably."
"Should we open the door?" Ellie whispered, Roman nodding before spotting a key hanging on the wall and taking it, assuming it was the key for the door.
They key slotted onto the keyhole easily, Roman twisting them around and jiggling the door handle, the door flying open.
"Holy shit!" Someone from inside the room yelled, covering his eyes from the light.
"Mark?" Bing asked, squinting his eyes for a better look as the man had covered most of his face.
"Yea?" He replied, taking his hand away from his face with squinted eyes as the harsh light leaked into the dark room. "Bing?"
"Yea, dude!" Bing replied, throwing his hands up in the air, a smile breaking out on his face. "We found you!"
Jameson then jumped up from his sitting position, running to hug Marvin who laughed and said, "Missed you too, Jamie."
"We have to get going," Deceit spoke, getting up from his chair. "God knows what's happening to the others."
"Janus's right," Ellie said, turning around to leave the building, the boys following her lead. "We need to make sure the others are okay."
- - -
Wilford stayed by Virgil's side, who had calmed down quite a but was still shaking slightly while staring at the wall.
Jack and Nora were talking quietly among themselves in the opposite corner, trying to figure out how to get out.
"You think the others are okay?" Nora asked, looking up at Jack with a curious look.
"Not sure," Jack replied, his eyes flickering to the other two at the opposite side of the room before they settled back on Nora. "But I hope they are."
"So do I," Nora replied with a slight nod. "I can't wait to see Sin again."
"Sin's the quiet one, right?" Jack inquired, an eyebrow put up as his blue eyes flickered over to stare at the wall.
"Yea, she doesn't like talking to people," Nora said quietly. "Gives her more anxiety than she already has."
"Why is she so jumpy?" Jack questioned with a singular nod. "If you don't mind me asking."
"It's fine," Nora shrugged, leaning her head on the wall behind her. "But it isn't my story to tell. She will tell you if you get close enough, but that's hard to do."
Jack nodded, sighing, "I just hope we'll be able to see the others and get home soon."
- - - - - - - -
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