The Return

Chapter 7

There was only one way to make sure Wheatley wasn't to come back, at all. This was to destroy him the same way that Doug had destroyed GlaDOS. Chell and Doug stood there before a panel in the control room. In front of them was a self destruct buttons.

Chell looked over at Doug, who was looking intently at the button. As if sensing that he was being looked at, Doug broke his concentration and looked back at Chell. Her face relaxed as she gave a reassuring nod, turning her attention back to the button and placing her hand upon it. This nod eased a bit of the tension Doug was feeling as, he too, looked back at the button and placed his hand on top of Chell's. After a few seconds of hesitation they pressed down, activating the self destruct sequence.

A countdown sequence began, beginning from one minute. This was it. This was the moment. But it wasn't quite over yet. They both needed to get to safety and wait out the countdown before they could celebrate. With that they rushed off to a place far enough away from the destruction area. Once they got to a safe distance they both sat down in one of the test chambers to wait out the countdown.

As the last few seconds began to tick down Doug let out a laugh. Mostly out of relief. Chell also let out a little chuckle. But this moment was soon interrupted by the countdown ending commenced by an explosion. Immediately after they were both thrown across the room. Everything went dark.

Turns out Wheatley had one more trick up his sleeve. In the event that the self destruct was activated he would indeed explode, but with a lot more power. Anything within a 10 mile radius would be destroyed.

So there lay Chell and Doug, buried under some rubble. But as luck may have it, some of the test subjects that had been released were still roaming around. A few of them had begun working together and knew of what Chell and Doug had been doing. It was also by luck that Chell's Companion Cube had been implemented with a tracking device. Presumably by GlaDOS so she could tell when and if Chell was to return. So that made it was for these people to find and rescue both of them.

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Doug awoke in a bed a few our later. Miraculously he came out of the explosion with a few broken ribs, a broken arm along with a few scrapes and bruises. Whatever drugs he was given, they were certainly working, as he felt almost no pain. Also he was feeling a little "happier" than usual. As he sat up he took not of the room he was in. It was one of the many rooms that were in the medical bay.

But a part of him felt off. Then, it suddenly hit him. Where was his beloved cube? Doug immediately began freaking only to suddenly stop when e noticed his love sitting in a chair beside him. He quickly grabbed a hold of her and hugged her, prosing to never lose her again.

One of the testers must have heard Doug freaking out as one of the raced into the room. Once they realise everything was fine they sighed and relaxed.

"Glad to see you're up and moving. And I see you found your friend! When we picked you and that lady up you were clutching onto that cube for dear life! Also you kept muttering about it, so we figured it must've been important."

At the mention of a lady it suddenly dawned on Doug. Chell. She had been with him during the explosion.

"Chell! Where is she?" Doug shouted at the poor man standing in the doorway.

"She's alive, for now. She's been touch and go all day. We've been trying out bes-" He couldn't finish his sentence quick enough before we was knocked out of the way by a cube wielding maniac. The scrawny man ran past him and down the hallway before the guy could do anything to stop him.

It took Doug a while to work through the maze of rooms and hallways. It didn't help that it had been many years since he had been down here. There was also a man chasing after him, so that also didn't help his situation. But after much searching. Doug finally found Chell's room. His heart sunk as he looked at her. She was in a terrible shape.