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Restoration Part 5

 

Evelyn…Dominic’s plans…I’m beginning to see the greater picture!

Aurora didn’t have time to tell Luna about the conclusions she made about Dominic, but she was putting the pieces together herself over time. What would come of this was something she chose to put aside for time being. Reaching the storage room was more important.

The alarms continued to blare while Luna and Aurora sprinted down the halls. As expected, a couple flying drones began heading their way.

“Aurora!”

“I’m right by you!”

Using her Curse, Aurora ripped a metal plate off the ceiling and used it to shield them from the incoming wave of bullets. Clones of Luna quickly popped out from behind their shielding and threw knives directly into the eyes of the drones. Oil oozed out of their destroyed and fallen states.

Guards followed right after, ready to shoot at both of them, but Aurora’s Curse took hold of the oil leaking out of the drones and splashed it onto all their helmets. They were completely blind while various versions of Luna moved in and knocked them out with a variety of takedown maneuvers. 

They hadn’t used their abilities together in years, but they were perfectly in sync with each other's movements and decisions. In Luna’s eyes, they were simply acting out the superhero fantasies they had when they were kids. She knew the seriousness of their situation, but when working with one another, deep down, she was having some fun, and she was sure Aurora felt the same.

No more drones or guards appeared for the time being. Rushing into the storage lab, the area once filled with well organized samples of blood and various equipment became a room of flames and broken down shelves. The once blue room had all its light overrun by red.

Luna and Aurora were surprised, but considering their goal was to prevent the distribution of this substance, this was actually rather convenient for them. 

What wasn’t was the cloaked figure injecting blood into their arm while holding a box with various samples.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Luna yelled.

The cloaked figure didn’t respond. Their face and most of their body were obscured, but after Luna spoke, they stared off into nothing for a few seconds. Their voice was distorted with some sort of filter. 

“I’m not what you should be concerned about.”

“Huh? What does that-!”

“Luna! This is Melody coming in! There are droids outside of security! They’re trying to force themselves in!”

This figure had no way of knowing Melody and the other’s current condition, yet this timing was absurd.

“We should be concerned over our own well being…” Right after the figure said this, more droids appeared behind Luna and Aurora. Luna closed the door instantly, but they all could still hear the sounds of bullets as well as more guards approaching. It was as if they were never going to let up until they had taken Luna and everyone else down.

 

***

 

Over on Melody’s end, it was obvious that they were ill suited to fight anymore. The only one showing even a semblance of energy was Katherine. Stuck between a rock and hard place, a light bulb lit itself above Melody’s head.

“Serene! Do you still have that EMP on you!”

“Oh, it’s right here-”

Melody’s hands snatched it up before she was permitted to finish her sentence. “So I just gotta hold down this button here to activate it?”

“Hey Melody, the heck is that?” Chloe asked.

“An EMP?!” Katherine interrupted. “Do you even know what that would do in a place like this?!”

“I know it could be disastrous! I’ve considered at least 200 various possibilities, but we’re cornered and this is our best shot at making it out of here alive! Luna, give Aurora your earpiece!”

 

***

 

Confused but cooperative, Luna did exactly that.

“Sunlight! I’m making this your call. Do we go through with this?”

“You’re having me decide?”

“What is your call, leader?”

Aurora’s only line of thought was that this could keep everyone safe, and as a result, she made a spontaneous, but highly reckless choice.

 

***

 

“Do it, Dawn.”

At her command, she activated the EMP with her timing matching when the drones finally broke down the door. Blue circular lines of light appeared from the device and then spiraled out in an explosive arc. 

The droids on both Melody’s and Luna’s ends short circuited and fell to ground like statues. Both the alarm sirens and emergency lights went out. In fact, every light went out for a brief moment. 

Everything went down. Even all the guards stopped their movements. However, this stillness was cut short by a robotic voice on the speakers.

“WARNING. OXYGEN SYSTEM FAILURE. WARNING. OXYGEN SYSTEM FAILURE.”

The back up lights followed, but that warning was still going off. Deep underwater, generators were required to create oxygen. Without them, the air remaining would grow thin and eventually, it would run out completely.

“EVERYONE FIND NEARBY ESCAPE PODS!”

 

***

 

Yells such as those could be heard by Luna and Aurora. Everyone in this lab was sure to evacuate. It may have been the Void’s goal to capture Luna, but it seems attempting to die for that goal was seen as foolish in the eyes of each guard. The enemies may have all been fleeing, but they were still stuck in a burning room. The smoke would only make them suffocate faster.

“Ah… I am fortunate to have worn a mask such as this…” the cloaked figure mumbled.

“We have to get the door open! Lend me a hand, Aurora!”

While the lights may have returned, the buttons to open and close the doors were busted. Choosing to ignore the stranger for the time being, they pried the sealed door open with all their might. 

With enough force, the door slid open, and both Luna and Aurora fell to the floor. They ended up exerting themselves too much, and the lack of oxygen was beginning to affect them. The smoke inhaled from the fire didn’t help matters.

In contrast, the cloaked figure walked out peacefully with samples of blood. Being mindful of their footing so as not to step on either of the girls.

“I thank you for your help. May we be fated to meet again.”

They walked away and disappeared as quickly as they appeared. 

Luna had no clue what to make of them, but the fact that they escaped with Dominic’s blood spelled only concern to her. She didn’t have any time to stress over this, as she could begin to feel her lungs grasp for any air they could latch onto. She split herself into two to see if that could restore her oxygen, but both of them had the same amounts. The other Luna quickly vanished.

She looked over at Aurora who was struggling no different from Luna.

Are we really going down like this…?

Luna pondered this question for a moment, but in the corner of her eyes, she saw someone approaching. Their footsteps were calm and calculated. They didn’t seem to care for the hazardous state of the lab.

Tilting her head up, Dominic Eterna looked down at her.

Faint outlines of clocks surrounded him and spun backwards.

His damn ability…! He’s probably rewinding his body to prevent the loss of oxygen! 

This was the logical conclusion Luna came to from seeing his powers used previously.

Aurora noticed Dominic too, and she attempted to raise her hand and control any nearby object to attack him, but her movements were too slow. Her arm was stomped to the ground by his foot and a kick to the stomach followed.

The yelp she let out was almost puppy-like in how weak she sounded.

“Stop!” Luna forced her lungs to yell, turning his attention back to her,

He held a pistol in his hand, pointing it at Luna’s head. The look in his eyes expressed pity for the girl. To him, this was merely as if he were putting a dying animal out of their misery.

Luna’s muscles were fighting against her. She wouldn’t have the speed nor strength to fight back. All she had was her words, and she pulled out the only ones that gave her a sliver of a chance to survive.

“Evelyn Eterna…”

He lifted his finger off the trigger.

“I know…the truth about her…you kill me here, you’ll never know…”

Luna’s vision blurred itself, but she could still make out how much his hands trembled. Either he’d ignore her words and end her life, or he’d postpone her death for even a brief moment.

Her knowledge of this answer would have to be postponed, because everything faded to black for Luna before she could find out.

 

***

 

Aurora held her aching gut, eyes closed in response to the pain. It’s when she opened them that she witnessed Dominic dragging Luna’s body. There wasn’t any apparent blood on her, meaning he didn’t pull the trigger, yet the burning anger inside Aurora’s heart did not settle.

Adding insult to injury, she could hear what Dominic said from a distance.

“My family’s business never concerned you in the first place.”

You scum…! Aurora thought.

She wanted nothing more than to pry Luna from his hands. To save Luna like she came to save her. All that ended up happening however, was the slow closing of the elevator door, and Aurora’s own consciousness beginning to fade.

***

 

Everyone in the security room was light headed. Serene kept breathing at a slow pace, Chloe was already falling to her knees, and Katherine was looking around the room carefully. 

Melody struggled to merely stand on both legs. “Our best hope is to restart the power…if there’s a generator nearby, maybe we can…”

Melody needed to stop in order to pace her breathing again. Her bubbles had no effect on anyone. There was no immediate injury to heal. Simply a gradual loss of consciousness. She was powerless in this situation. Everyone did. 

Well, except one person.

“This should be it…! If I rip this off…!”

Using just enough of her strength, Katherine pulled a metal panel off the side of the security’s computer which was implanted onto the wall, and grabbed onto the wires.

“If this connects to the rest of the facility, then there’s a chance that…!”

After taking one last deep breath, her body enveloped itself in a yellow aura. From all parts of her body, electricity was created and surged directly into her arm, then flowing directly into the computer.

Her body was naturally immune to electricity due to her Curse, but the pain came from having to exert herself to such a serious degree. Creating energy from her body exhausted her, and the lack of oxygen already limited her greatly.

This didn’t change her drive as she yelled with all heart and put everything she had into restarting the power of the entire facility. She could feel herself growing light headed, but she didn’t care. To her, this was the least she could do for Chloe and all her friends after what she put them through. 

She knew this wouldn’t redeem her actions, but she also knew that’s not what this was about. 

Keeping everyone alive, that’s all I need to focus on right now! I’ll give everything I have left!

After letting out one more shout, the sound of motors could be heard within the walls, the floor's vibrations were subtle, but they were present again, and slowly, Katherine’s throat no longer felt as if it was choking itself. 

It took a few minutes, but everyone else in the room took control of their breathing. 

“Woah! You’re incredible, Kate!” Chloe said as soon as she could properly speak. This complement fell on deaf ears as Katherine herself had passed out against the computer.

 

***

 

Chloe frantically rushed to her side while Melody and Serene focused back on Luna and Aurora, only to see that Aurora was by herself.

“Where’s Luna?” Serene asked, wildly switching between every possible camera.

“I’ll go meet with Aurora!” 

Dashing out the room, Melody went through hallway to hallway to find her friend. Every guard and lab member had evacuated, and the ones who were knocked out previously remained as such. The entire place had become vacant due to the chaos they caused.

 One more corner turn later, Melody spotted a hallway full of broken drones, knocked out guards, and an Aurora who was still rising from the ground.

 

***

 

“Aurora! Thank everything you’re okay! That was all my fault!” 

Aurora stood up as she held her gut with one arm. “No…that was all me…”

“What happened to Luna?”

“Dominic took her down that elevator! I have to- ack!”

Aurora stumbled after a few steps forward. 

“Ah! Are you hurt?!”

“He kicked me pretty badly in the ribs. That jerk might’ve fractured something for all I know.”

“Here let me see if I can help!”

One bubble floating through Aurora later, the pain in her gut eased up.

“What the-?! You have a Curse too, Melody?”

“Hehe! I was really excited to show it to you especially!”

“That’s lovely.” 

Luna, you really trust easier than you claim to. Aurora giggled to herself. 

“If we both have our abilities, it means that Luna’s still alive. I’m going down to take her back.”

“I’ll come with you! Everyone else is worn out, but I can still-”

“Sorry, Melody, but it has to be only me that goes down.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Back at the mansion… Dominic was scared of my powers. They bypassed his Curse completely. If his power is to reverse the properties of time, then maybe my Curse pauses time on whatever I control. He’s unable to reverse something that isn’t moving forward in time. I have to be the one to take him down.”

“What?! But why do your powers have that property?”

“...It was said in the Starlight Gift file that there is no such thing as an all-powerful Gift. They’re all capable of being countered in some way. Dominic just wants us to believe that he’s unstoppable. There are likely other ways he can be defeated, but as of now, this is our best shot!”

“Does that mean you have a plan?”

“Uhhh, maybe…?”

“Maybe?”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do…”

“What?!”

“I’m sorry! If I’m able to touch him, I’d be able to use my ability directly on him, but actually doing that is another story.”

“This is exactly why you need my help!”

“Okay, okay! You’re right, but you’re still not going with me.”

“But I-!”

“Instead! I need to know something,” Aurora said to Melody with a face full of both curiosity and determination. “You’re bubbles, how much control do you have over them, and can they go through tight spaces?”

Melody looked confused, but nodded at the importance of this question. “I can control their direction with my mind or let them float on their own. While Luna was crawling through the vents, I messed around with one I was near and found that they can squeeze through tight spaces.” 

“Hmm, it’s settled. Here’s what I need you to do…”

Aurora laid out her plan to Melody. It sounded outlandish at first, but Aurora continued to insist on it and argued this was how Melody could still contribute while being far away from any danger. 

Melody agreed, understanding they were spending too much time as is.

“Here’s a spare earpiece I brought. You give the cue and I’ll do it.”

“Thank you, Melody. Not only for this, but for everything.”

“You can thank me by coming back with Luna safe and sound!”

Aurora gave a light chuckle, “You’ve all been too good to me.”

With the trust of her teammate, Aurora pried open the elevator with her Curse and entered. There was only one place she could press a button for: the bottom floor of the lab.

She saw Melody give a somewhat precarious thumbs up before the doors closed completely.

All that Aurora could do now was wait as the unknown awaited her. There was nowhere left to run. She decided that this is when both she and Luna were finally going to be done with everything Dominic-related one way or the other. Even if that meant…

…There’s only one way I can see this going. I can’t be indecisive this time. I need to take control of this situation. Even if that means Luna would hate herself for what happens.

No. That last part wasn’t quite right.

Who am I kidding? That’s not who I fear she’ll hate…