After opening the shutters, both teams found themselves on each side of an enormous room, where the conveyor belt continued until it reached a pit in the middle, full of raw iron and other materials. But as their path converged again past this point, they could only follow a narrow walkway between all sorts of machinery. It looked like this was the main room for industrial smelting and refining, as huge boilers and circular furnaces took up most of the space on both sides. The room was tall enough to let the steam and smoke pour out through the roof naturally, but also to host different levels of catwalks surrounding the furnaces, with horizontal cranes set up on opposite fronts that were carrying heavy buckets filled with molten metal across the room.
In total, it seemed like two rows of heavy, intimidating, and dangerous melting machinery, almost completely symmetrical without counting the catwalks above. At first glance, the layout left the teams awestruck, as they couldn’t tell apart what could be a potential threat due to the monotone palette of the machinery. It didn’t help that on ground level, they couldn’t see much above the furnaces, so they stayed close to the shutters, trying to use the boilers next to them as cover.
Once they got some sort of understanding of their surroundings thanks to the natural, bright orange light emanating from the open furnaces and containers above, they became tense as they couldn’t spot any enemies immediately. The Heartaches took the lead and tried to inspect the room, keeping their eyes on the furnaces ahead. But while the rest focused on the catwalks above, they witnessed one of the antipunks reveal himself at the very end of the room, on top of one of the crane rails. Before being able to warn the others, EchoForce dove to the ground and took cover as the yells of the hidden enemies shifted the Heartaches’ attention upwards.
The signal came with all the remaining antipunks popping out from behind the furnaces with rifles and swords, throwing smoke grenades from the two layers of catwalks above them to block the teams’ vision, and some even taking positions on the crane rails to get a more direct line of sight. But it was clear instantly that there was more than the group the team was chasing, and by how they scattered throughout the giant room, there were at least a few dozen more than what the team had initially encountered.
If there was any place to hide, it was most likely that the antipunks had used them to catch their enemies by surprise. As they began shooting and charging toward the Heartaches from all angles, they didn’t give them a chance to run or hide, forcing them to fight back since they had no options like EchoForce. Panda stepped back to protect his squad with his shield while they hid from the barrage of bullets coming their way through the smoke and from above. But as he became the target of most of the antipunk gunmen, the Heartaches took their opportunity to fight back against the nearest threats.
Not even three seconds after being shot, the Heartaches slit up in two, taking both sides of the stairs next to the boilers, which led them straight to the first level of the catwalks, where they started rushing to the unaware antipunks. Despite them having rifles to attack from a safe distance, the antipunks were unable to predict the Heartaches’ movement and couldn’t lock their sights on any of them. Their own smoke, as well as the one from the furnaces, was rising fast, creating a thick barrier between both catwalks and obstructing the view of the other side. That left them with only one direction to look at, forwards, but even then, the Heartaches took full advantage of their surroundings and the steel mill’s layout to close the distance and attack the antipunks.
Trying not to get distracted by the Heartaches and to draw more attention from the antipunks, Panda started firing back despite not being able to see the enemy past a few feet. The thin corridor between the furnaces was a death trap, yet he approached it without fear, although he was cautious since there were still armed men on the catwalk nearby, so he kept his shield up until he saw the Heartaches clearing some of the way. Saint and the rookies were hesitant to follow him, but since they were sticking to the sides, they were able to take cover behind the elevated platforms holding the industrial furnaces. Despite being close enough to feel the intense heat, they were all too scared to come out, and it was almost impossible to join the fight as the front was covered with smoke, where antipunks with swords were waiting to get the drop on them.
Cookie stayed put, waiting for Panda to make the move as he followed right behind. He let him take on the enemies in front, who started shooting back in a desperate attempt to stop Panda from advancing. The constant stream of bullets coming from his machine gun blocked the direct path for the enemy to attack, prompting the antipunks to find other ways to get around and have a chance to harm him. Everybody could hear them rambling about wanting to get in the action, although they didn’t sound too confident to fight, especially against the Heartaches, who slaughtered everyone in their way, filling up the catwalks with so many bodies that some began dropping.
Saint, Ace, and Shade took cover behind the first furnace in the right row, where they noticed they could go through a small crevice between the furnace and the wall, but it was right under a hanging bucket full of molten steel. It was already difficult to see from the smoke, but with the blood pouring through the grates of the catwalk above, as well as some bodies dropping next to them, they were stuck in a corner and had no other way to push through. However, they were willing to take the risk to flank the enemies as more antipunks began focusing fire on Panda from above, and he seemed to be running low on his ammo belt.
So, right before they could make the move, Ryu, Kayden, and Pan rushed through the catwalk above them, slashing through a convenient line that the antipunks had formed, clearing the way for Nolyn and Jay to use the railing to reach the second catwalk, the one closer to the ceiling that was supporting the main crane carrying the bowl filled with steel. With most of the antipunks trying to shoot Panda down, they didn’t see the Heartaches coming, at least not from right below as the young warriors grabbed onto the ledge while they waited for the enemy to approach. And with Ryu, Kayden, and Pan continuing to push through until they reached the end of the first catwalk floor, the antipunks began retreating, coming right into contact with Jay and Nolyn.
Grabbing the antipunks’ ankles to restrain them momentarily, they dragged them under the railing, trying to toss them onto the ground floor. Only Nolyn succeeded in dropping one since Jay struggled to hang on to the catwalk, but with their teammates arriving to help, they pushed the antipunks off the platforms down a sixteen-foot-high fall. But while some hit the railings below, either breaking their necks or backs and falling next to the rookies, a few managed to save themselves by hanging onto the crane.
There, they swung across to the other side, only to be met by Zayn, Ignatius, Agnus, and Faye, who had applied a similar tactic to clear the catwalks on their side, except much more brutal and straightforward since they didn’t take the time to flank when their enemies were too scared to face them. And as they didn’t have many enemies to take care of, they provided a quick death via swift slashes to finish off the remaining antipunks, catching them off guard in their brief moment of relief and letting their bodies drop alongside the ones on the other side.
The antipunks began falling rapidly, with many dropping to their deaths near EchoForce, but one in particular fell from the last floor, directly into a bucket of molten metal above Sant. A big splash of hot liquid forced him, Ace, and Shade to keep their eyes up in case they needed to retreat, which they did right after the bucket began tilting, spilling most of its content into the furnace right next to them, which overflowed for a moment, blocking the path they were considering taking. Zoey and Chappy backed away on the other side, as they were shocked by the sight of a man dropping his death in a hot tub of lava and didn’t want to be anywhere near the bucket above them.
But despite them losing their chances to flank through the sides of the furnaces and Panda running out of ammo, unable to reload without dropping his shield, the rookies still had the advantage. The antipunks on the first and second floors were equally as shocked to see their teammates dropping like flies, especially when one fell into a furnace and melted to death. His last screams of agony vanished with a fiery cloud stained with red, which was enough to scare off the antipunks that were still alive. Since the smoke in the middle was beginning to dissipate, they couldn’t waste time retreating, so they didn’t hesitate to run towards the back of the catwalks.
The Heartaches were too fast for them, and after quickly catching up to the enemy, they left them with no other way to escape but to go up to the last layer of catwalks. They tried to take the higher ground, letting Panda join Ace and Zoey as he took cover to get a chance to reload. But while he preferred to stay back upon seeing the antipunks being cornered, Cookie chose to rush forward now that the enemy was retreating, finding a perfect opportunity to get some kills for himself.
Despite the center being cleared and much safer to attack from, the antipunks continued to fall from the railings above, mostly dropping around the middle between the rows of furnaces, which led Cookie to take a different approach. To chase after the antipunks that were trying to hang on to the cranes and a few chains hanging from the ceiling, he imitated the Heartaches, except in a much more dangerous fashion as he seemed motivated to fight.
While Saint, Ace, and Shade tried to return to a safer position, they passed by Cookie as he ran directly towards the furnace that they were using to cover a few moments ago. But instead of going through that flank line they had discovered, he climbed up the platform holding the furnace, and by stepping onto the ledge of the open furnace without burning himself, he reached for the bucket of boiling steel mixed with melted antipunk, only to jump up and grab the large metal hook carrying it. Using some force to boost himself, he was able to put the crane into motion as he moved across the entire room, only gaining speed as he passed by some of the antipunks running away below.
But instead of heading for the easy picks, Cookie targeted the antipunks on the very top, who were hanging right above the crane, successfully holding off the Heartaches as they couldn’t risk attacking them at such height. The antipunks were relieved to be out of the Heartaches’ reach for a second, and while they could feel some movement below, they were in a pretty stable position, so they let their guard down. Nolyn and Jay were about to jump across to bring down the remaining antipunks, but before they could steal his kills, Cookie climbed up the crane, and without giving his targets a chance to notice him, he rapidly took out anyone in sight, surprising the antipunks, who were unable to emote or feel anything but the blood spilling out their necks and backs.
Without getting to fully enjoy the kills, Cookie quickly moved on to the last antipunks on the left side of the catwalks, the ones that Agnus’ group couldn’t reach yet. They were already coming for them, but still, Cookie put his life at risk by jumping across the crane onto one of the tilted metal buckets of molten steel that was hanging closer to the ceiling, which was too hot for him to stand on for more than a second, all just to kill the last antipunk and be able to gloat in front of Zayn. The latter seemed dumbfounded by the risky stunt, but he couldn’t question Cookie’s decision as he was self-absorbed while celebrating.
But as the ones he let run away had disappeared behind the last row of furnaces at the back of the room, Cookie’s search for action remained unfulfilled, so he hopped off the catwalk and continued running around to check for more enemies. In the meantime, Panda and the rookies made their way to the center of the room to group with the Heartaches. Unbeknownst to them, there were still a few antipunks hiding in between some of the furnaces.
They were trying to contain their groans of pain as some of the furnaces’ had spilled on them, but they were able to keep calm to not show their faces. But just when they were relieved to find a safe space to hide in, Agnus dropped down to stab and slice their throats from the back while they weren’t looking, killing them with a few pokes through the crevices between the furnaces. Her sword wasn’t long enough to cut very deep, so for good measure, she made sure to push their bodies against the burning hot surface of the furnace to confirm their kills, only turning back once she saw the scorched sides of the dead antipunks’ faces.
–Are those all?– Ryu asked while catching his breath, although he was seemingly still eager to keep fighting, just like his teammates. However, as he and his team looked around the room, with Nolyn and Jay staying above to check the catwalks, it looked like they wouldn’t be able to keep the fun going.
–I think so. I don’t see any left…– Zayn replied in his calm and collected demeanor, but he was somewhat wary as he checked behind one of the furnaces on the right side, only to see the antipunks that Agnus had taken out. She casually stepped out and regrouped with her team, but not without leaving some of them with the disturbing image of one of the antipunks’ faces melting right behind her.
–These cowards can’t even fight back. They are probably hiding somewhere…– Kayden mentioned firmly but with disdain as he looked for more enemies to kill. Unlike them, the rookies were still trying to process what had just happened and were more distressed to see everyone else handling the situation so calmly. Even Saint seemed somewhat nervous, although he quickly felt safer standing next to Panda and the Heartaches, who remained in control and slightly amused by the carnage they caused.
However, as they were all taking a moment to look around at all the dead bodies, checking for any other sign of threat, Cookie kept searching for enemies since he knew some could still be alive in another room. After circling the catwalks once, he went straight to the back of the room to see if someone had made it out. There was another conveyor belt, similar to the one at the start, except it cut through the wall, where it was obscured by a small, thick, black curtain, which was the only opening he could see since the two metal doors next to it were shut. He started checking the conveyor, noticing that it carried refined steel to the room in front. But as he tried to poke his head through the wall, he drew Zoey’s attention, who tried to look anywhere but the dead antipunks lying around on the floor, and that’s how she caught a glimpse of the right door next to Cookie open slightly.
–There, that door!– Zoey exclaimed as she pointed at the figure she saw behind the door for a second after it opened for a brief second without Cookie noticing. He managed to see him through the conveyor belt, but instead of crawling through it, he stepped back as soon as she called it out, then joined the entire team to catch the runner, almost competing to get the kill first. Although he was slightly disoriented, he caught up to what was happening quickly, but it was still Agnus and Panda who were the first to reach the door, leading the team as they rushed through the door to reach the other section of the factory.
Past the furnace room, the conveyor belt carried all the refined materials onto two long assembly lines, which covered almost the entire width of the room, which was shorter than the previous, with a lower ceiling as well, but as the machinery was much smaller in comparison, it was easier to get a good look at everything. That didn’t mean it was easier to traverse since the layout with all the conveyor belts was blocking their way, but it did help them spot the enemy as soon as they entered them.
The last antipunks had already gotten some distance on them and were running towards the only gate in the center, leading to another room. But as he appeared to have been shot in his left leg, he couldn’t run very fast. Taking advantage of this, the Heartaches raced to catch the enemy, but they had trouble getting past the assembly lines, especially with the dangerous machines with saws and sharp points that could hurt them. But on the other hand, Panda and Cookie didn’t seem to care and just jumped over all the conveyor belts.
They exchanged a couple of challenging stares, as if they were competing to see who would reach first. To get an edge over Cookie, Panda dropped his machine gun and shield to run straight for the antipunk, who was reaching the gate but couldn’t help taking a few glances at them as they crossed the entire room in a matter of seconds. The antipunk was already bracing himself for them to catch up, but he still tried to close the gate on Panda as he was now entering a more open area with an exit to the outside nearby. But he could only reach his hand for the light before Panda tackled him to the ground, instantly restraining him before turning him around violently.
–Alright, you filthy rat. You better start speaking, or I’ll make you eat your molten friends…– Panda threatened aggressively, but he wore a disturbingly thirsty grin that was so unnerving to the antipunk that he almost fainted. He closed his eyes in fear, and after the rest of the team caught up to Panda, he realized he was being surrounded. All the hope he had of escaping disappeared in an instant, even though he could still see the light coming from some open gates in the room. But with a horrified expression on his face, no movement, and no backup to help him, the antipunk could only be compliant and pray he would be spared as Panda started questioning him.
